As part of an ongoing Department of Defense (“DoD”) effort to increase its energy efficiency, late last month the U.S. Army committed to develop its largest renewable energy project to date — a 65MW wind and solar project at Fort Hood. This ambitious project will need to comply with the latest DoD rules regarding
February 2016
DOL Issues Guidance on Its Broad View of Joint Employment
On January 20, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued new guidance on joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The guidance marks the third time in recent years that WHD has stressed the broad definition of “employment” under the FLSA, following June 2014 guidance on joint employment in the…
After Two-Day Workshop, CDRH Releases Postmarket Cybersecurity Draft Guidance
Earlier today, on the InsideMedicalDevices blog, our colleague posted a summary of the FDA’s recent issuance of draft guidance on “Postmarket Management of Cybersecurity in Medical Devices.” The release of the draft guidance coincided with the conclusion of a two-day public workshop hosted by the FDA entitled, “Moving Forward: Collaborative Approaches to Medical Device Cybersecurity.”…
Zika Virus Complications Lead to Expected Government Partnership with Private Industry
Concerns about the spread of Zika virus and potential complications associated with infection may soon lead to new research and development opportunities for government contractors and grant recipients. Similar to developments after the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa, a need to better understand Zika’s characteristics and develop an effective countermeasure or vaccine has led both domestic and…
Inside New FAR Whistleblower Rule: Key Takeaways for Contractors
On January 22, 2016, the FAR Council published a proposed rule that, if adopted, would impose a government-wide prohibition on contracting with companies that limit the ability of employees or subcontractors to lawfully report fraud, waste, and abuse to the government. Given the proposed rule’s near-universal application and potentially devastating consequences for violators, contractors would…
New CMS Rule Permits Home Health Face-to-Face Encounters to Occur Through Telehealth Technology
Earlier this week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule implementing a provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires a Medicaid enrollee seeking coverage for home health services to first meet face-to-face with a practitioner. The final rule confirms that the face-to-face encounter requirement “may occur through telehealth, as…
Agreement Reached on New EU-U.S. Safe Harbor: the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
By Dan Cooper
Today (February 2nd, 2016), the European Commission and U.S. Government reached political agreement on the new framework for transatlantic data flows. The new framework – the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield – succeeds the EU-U.S. Safe Harbor framework (for more on the Court of Justice of the European Union decision in the Schrems case declaring the Safe…
California Regulation, Proposed Statute Add to State’s Reputation for Complex, Detailed Disclosure
California is already home to some of the most complicated and searching political regulations in the country, especially in its efforts to expose “dark money” and other undisclosed political spending. A newly-amended lobbying regulation and proposed campaign finance law will enhance that reputation. The practical effect of each is to invite deeper scrutiny of not…