Michelle Martin, Author at SGR Law

Jun 16, 2022

EPA Releases Drinking Water PFAS Standards

The EPA has released drinking water health advisory levels for four per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), including revised target levels for PFOA and PFOS. The updated advisory levels are based on new science that indicates that some negative health effects may occur with concentrations of PFOA or PFOS that are near zero. Accordingly, the new advisory levels are set at 0.004 parts per trillion for PFOA and 002 parts per trillion for PFOS, which are several orders of magnitude lower than levels set by the Obama EPA. While health advisory levels are not enforceable in their own right, many states use… Read more

Jun 7, 2022

EPA Proposes New CWA 401 Rule Undoing Trump-Era Limits

On Thursday, June 2, the EPA unveiled a proposed rule that would restore states’ ability to veto Federal infrastructure projects that they think could pollute water within their borders. If finalized, the EPA’s proposed Water Quality Certification and Improvement Rule would roll back the Trump Administration’s 2020 Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule, which greatly reduced states’ ability to object to infrastructure projects. The Clean Water Act gives states the right to certify any federally-permitted infrastructure project that might discharge pollution into streams, waters or wetlands. Under the EPA’s proposed rule, a state would be allowed to determine whether… Read more

Jun 3, 2022

Ex-CEO Indicted for COVID-Related Fraud

What happens when, in the early, uncertain days of a burgeoning global pandemic, you tell investors that you have recurring orders for millions of rapid test kits for $35 million a week for the next six months? Well, your stock price surges, of course. But what if, before you made that announcement, you had reason to believe that you couldn’t actually obtain the tests after all? Well, then the SEC halts trading of your stock due to “questions and concerns regarding the adequacy and of publicly available information” about your company. And it only goes downhill from there. SCWorx Corporation… Read more

Jun 2, 2022

Unanimous U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Prejudice Requirement for Arbitration Waiver

On May 23, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the question of waiver in a case governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and held that a party can waive its right to arbitration irrespective of whether the other party suffered prejudice. Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., No. 21-328 Robyn Morgan worked as an hourly employee for Sundance, Inc., a Taco Bell franchisee that operated more than 150 Taco Bell restaurants. Morgan worked for Sundance’s Taco Bell restaurant in Osceola, Iowa. When she applied for that job, she signed an arbitration agreement in which she agreed to “use confidential binding arbitration,… Read more

May 19, 2022

First Circuit Reverses Bar on CWA Citizen Suits

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has overturned its bar on Clean Water Act (“CWA”) citizen suits seeking declaratory relief when a state is “diligently” prosecuting a violation. In the opinion, the Court agreed with environmentalists and the EPA that its prior opinion was at odds with the text and congressional intent of the CWA. In the language of the Court, “the limitations set forth in Section 309(g)(6)(A) bars only a citizen suit that seeks to apply civil penalty for an ongoing violation of the CWA and not a citizen suit for declaratory and prospective injunctive relief… Read more

May 3, 2022

Blinded By The Light? Georgia Court of Appeals Says Commercial Greenhouse Light Not A Nuisance

In Kempton v. Southern Flavor Real Estate, L.P.[1], the Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed a summary judgment order in favor of a commercial greenhouse operator and against a residential neighbor’s claim of nuisance due to excess light emitted from the greenhouse. The greenhouse business was located on rural land zoned for agricultural use. The greenhouse used automated lights mounted near the glass roof and pointed down toward the floor. A significant amount of the light reflected upward and was emitted through the roof. The neighbor owned the adjoining land with a house located about 1,000 feet from the greenhouse. The… Read more

Apr 28, 2022

A Century Later: Implied Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing Still Going Strong

Parties to construction contracts are often surprised to learn that they are bound to implied unwritten contract obligations in addition to the written terms of their contracts. Courts in the United States began to recognize certain implied contract obligations about 100 years ago in circumstances where application of the common law rules of contract formation and interpretation would lead to results that the parties to the contract clearly did not intend. As a result, the courts required that the implied contract obligations be consistent with and necessary to carry out the express terms of the contract, such that it could… Read more

Apr 25, 2022

Timber and Paper Industry Petition EPA to Ease Restrictions on Burning Paper Residuals

In December, 2021, representatives of the timber and paper industry petitioned the EPA to ease restrictions on the burning of railroad ties and paper residuals as fuel without triggering strict hazardous waste combustion emission requirements. The EPA previously denied the coalition’s petition to revise the Nonhazardous Secondary Material criteria for treated railroad ties and certain paper residuals. As outlined in its March 29 request for reconsideration, the issue is whether the railroad ties and paper residuals can be burned as “fuel” in boilers and avoid tougher emissions limits designated for incinerators. When a material is designated as fuel under the… Read more

Apr 19, 2022

Georgia General Assembly Passes HB 478: Establishes Daubert Evidentiary Standard in Georgia Criminal Cases

On Wednesday, March 30, 2022, the Georgia General Assembly passed HB 478 to extend the Daubert evidentiary standard for expert testimony in Georgia to criminal prosecutions. The move to adopt Daubert for criminal matters was motivated, in part, by the need for insightful discussion into the validity of expert testimony in criminal cases and the need for consistency across civil and criminal proceedings in Georgia.[1] Undoubtedly, the passage of HB 478 is timely and important. The benefits of this bill would upgrade Georgia’s criminal jurisprudence and make the State’s expert witness standards consistent. The Daubert standard (embodied in O.C.G.A. §… Read more