Louisiana law is clear – all claims against a contractor or design professional arising out of the planning, construction, design or building immovable or movable property must be brought within 5 years of the date of registry in the mortgage office of acceptance of the work by the owner. If no such acceptance is recorded
Modified OSHA Policy Statement Defining Applicability: The “One Percent Rule” and Aqueous Mixtures
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published a Request for Information (“RFI”) on December 9, 2013 concerning possible changes to the Process Safety Management (“PSM”) program codified at 29 C.F.R. 1910.119. See 78 Fed. Reg. 73756 (Dec. 9, 2013). Likewise, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published an RFI on July 31, 2014 relating
Third Circuit Rules on Louisiana’s Construction Anti-Indemnity Statute
By the Kean Miller Construction Team
On April 6, 2016, Louisiana’s Third Circuit Court of Appeal issued a ruling on the question of whether the state’s relatively new anti-indemnity statute affects a defendant’s ability to assert the “statutory employer” defense for purposes of workers compensation. Blanks v. Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, LLC, No. 15-1094,
Supreme Court Allows Early Challenges to US Army Corps of Engineers “Waters of the United States” Jurisdictional Determinations
On May 31, 2016, the US Supreme Court ruled in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc. that a jurisdictional determination issued by the Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act constitutes a final agency action that is judicially reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act. Justice Roberts wrote the decision of
EPA Recognizes that the Baton Rouge Area Attained the 2008 8-Hour Ozone Standard
The May 4, 2016, Federal Register contains a notice of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA’s”) final decision that the Baton Rouge ozone nonattainment area has attained the 2008 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (“NAAQS”). 81 Fed. Reg. 26,697. (The Baton Rouge nonattainment area consists of the parishes of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Iberville,
Failure to Have a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement Results in $750,000 Fine
On April 14, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), entered into a $750,000 settlement with a North Carolina orthopaedic clinic arising from the clinic’s disclosure of x-ray films and related protected health information of 17,300 patients to an entity that was engaged by the clinic to
Frustrated with the NLRB’s Scrutiny of Employer Work Rules?
Employers are not the only ones frustrated with the National Labor Relations Board’s ever-growing scrutiny of common employer work rules and policies. A member of the NLRB is, too.
As many employers are aware, the NLRB’s scrutiny of work rules has gone well beyond social media policies. In recent years, the NLRB has taken issue
Louisiana’s Sales Tax Occasional Sale Rule Limitation Does Not Impact Just Yard Sales
The Louisiana state and local sales tax laws have historically included an isolated or occasional sale rule. In general, the rule looks at the characteristics of a seller to determine if a sales taxable transaction has occurred. If the seller is not engaged in the business of selling the type of property being sold and
Louisiana Corporation Franchise Tax Extended to Non-Corporate Entities
The Louisiana Corporation Franchise Tax (“CFT”) has historically been imposed only on corporations. Thus, LLCs and partnerships have not been subject to the CFT. In the Special Session that ended last March, the Louisiana Legislature expanded the companies subject to the CFT to include non-corporate entities that elect to be taxed as corporations for federal
EPA Poised to Begin Collecting Methane Data from Existing Oil & Gas Facilities
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in March that it is in the process of developing new regulations to curb methane emissions from existing oil and gas facilities. The EPA will formally require companies operating existing oil and gas sources to provide information to assist in the development of comprehensive regulations to reduce methane emissions.