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UPDATE: Federal Appeals Court Lifts Stay on OSHA’s Vaccine-or-Test Rule for Large Employers

December 20, 2021 by Brunini Law

By:  Chris Fontan

Late Friday, December 17, 2021, a three judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved a previously issued stay of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”).  Shortly after the ruling by the Sixth Circuit, OSHA posted a notice on its website, adjusting its previously established deadlines for compliance with the ETS.

In a 2-1 split vote, the three judge panel determined that, in light of the continued spread of COVID-19 variants, OSHA “must be able to respond to dangers as they evolve.” Judge Jane B. Stanch, an appointee President Barack Obama, authored the opinion. Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, an appointee of President George W. Bush, sided with Judge Stanch.  Judge Joan Larsen, an appointee of President Donald Trump, dissented, noting employees are exposed to COVID-19 even while not working and OSHA had not established there was “grave danger” in the workplace or the ETS requirements would correct that.

OSHA quickly recognized the victory, while at the same time acknowledging the uncertainty that the litigation has caused. As a result, OSHA notified the public of new compliance dates concerning the ETS.  According to a new notice on the agency’s website, OSHA announced that it was “exercising enforcement discretion with respect to the compliance dates of the” mandate. OSHA stated that “it will not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the [mandate] before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the [mandate’s] testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard.” OSHA also promised to “work closely with the regulated community to provide compliance assistance.”

Based on this announcement, the current deadlines for the OSHA ETS include:

  • Immediately: Covered employers must start taking good faith efforts to come into compliance with the ETS.
  • January 10, 2022: New deadline for covered employers to:
    • Have written COVID-19 Vaccine-or-Testing Policy prepared describing the requirements with regard to vaccinations and testing
    • Provide specific information about vaccines and the ETS requirements to employees
    • Determine the vaccination status of each employee (and keeping records related to vaccination status)
    • Start requiring masking of unvaccinated employees
    • Provide PTO for employees to get vaccinated
  • February 9, 2022: New deadline for covered employers to:
    • Start requiring weekly COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated employees (and keeping records related to weekly testing)

Within several hours of the decision, multiple parties, including 27 states, filed emergency motions with the U.S. Supreme Court to block the ETS and requested an emergency stay of its enforcement. Those applications will be reviewed by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who is assigned to hear petitions from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. At this point, the Supreme Court has several options, including: granting the petitioners’ applications and staying the ETS pending review of the entire Court; granting the petitioners’ application but, given OSHA’s decision to delay compliance dates, not issuing a stay and simply referring the applications to the full Court for a decision; or taking no action on the applications pending review of the full Court.

Although it is always difficult to predict how quickly a ruling might come, experts predict that the Supreme Court will most likely take action in advance of January 10, 2022, to give employers some certainty. Employers are encouraged to continue to monitor developments with the ETS and pending litigation involving its implementation and to contact their labor and employment counsel for additional information concerning these developments.  If you need Labor & Employment counsel, please contact any member of Brunini’s Labor & Employment Practice Group.

 

 

 

 

Related Attorneys

  • Christopher R. Fontan

Brunini Law Firm announces that Kyle Williams has rejoined the firm as an Associate in the Firm’s Regulatory Department.

December 13, 2021 by Brunini Law

December 13, 2021

Brunini Law Firm announces that Kyle Williams has rejoined the firm as an Associate in the Firm’s Regulatory Department.

Prior to rejoining the firm, Kyle worked in the office of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, as the Director of Legislative Affairs and Policy and, later, Director of the Attorney General’s Opinions and Policy Division. In his roles, Kyle served as the Attorney General’s liaison to the Mississippi Legislature, advising her on matters pending before the Legislature and advocating on behalf of her legislative and budgetary priorities.  He also worked closely with county boards of supervisors, mayors, and municipal governing authorities seeking legal guidance by official Attorney General’s opinion.

“We are excited to welcome Kyle back to our firm,” said Jim Halford, chair of Brunini’s Regulatory Department. “His commercial litigation and governmental relations work with us before was exemplary. Kyle’s experience then, coupled with that gained in his recent work as the Director of the Opinions and Policy Division of the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, will certainly strengthen our firm and greatly benefit our clients.”

A native of Meridian, Kyle received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, with a minor in Campaigns and Elections, from the University of Southern Mississippi.  He earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law, where he served as an Associate Articles Editor for the Mississippi Law Journal.

Prior to attending law school, Kyle worked as a Policy Assistant at the Mississippi House of Representatives, in the Office of Speaker Philip Gunn.  In addition to working on various federal, state, and local campaigns, he also served in the Washington, D.C. office of U.S. Congressman Steven Palazzo.

Kyle serves on the Board of Directors of both the Mississippi Bar Young Lawyers Division and the University of Mississippi School of Law Alumni Chapter, and he is the Chair of the Young Lawyers Division’s Bar Admissions Ceremony Committee. Kyle is a member of Pinelake Church, the Capital Area Bar Association, and Jackson Young Lawyers.

 

 

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  • L. Kyle Williams

Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board Summary of Meeting Held November 9, 2021

November 29, 2021 by Brunini Law

Prepared By Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC

The Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board (“Board”) convened at 9:00 a.m. on November 9, 2021.  This meeting was held through a telephone conference call and the public was invited to listen to the deliberations of the Board. The Board first approved minutes from the previous meeting held on October 12, 2021 and the non-controversial actions/certifications completed by the staff since the October meeting. Then, following a prepared agenda, the Board considered items as follows:

OFFICE OF GEOLOGY

Ron Porter (MDEQ Office of Geology, Mining and Reclamation) presented the MDEQ Staff’s recommendations and Board approved the following:

Surface Mining Bond Release

Permittee County Permit Staff Recommendation
Blain Sand & Gravel, Inc. Covington P98-010 Additional 80%

 

Surface Mining Permit Rescission

Permittee County Permit
PMH, LLC Marshall P10-030

Surface Mining Permit Transfer

Permittee County Permit
Blain Sand & Gravel, Inc. to JLMB Investments, LLC Covington P98-010

Other Business

No Other Business was discussed.

The next Permit Board meeting will be held on December 14, 2021, at 9 a.m.

This Newsletter is a publication of the Environmental Practice Group of the law firm of Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes located in Jackson, Mississippi. This Newsletter is not designed or intended to provide legal or professional advice, as any such advice requires the consideration of the facts of the specific situation.

If you have any questions concerning the content of a newsletter, or if you would like further information about the matters addressed in a newsletter, please contact John Milner, the Brunini Firm Environmental Practice Group leader, at jmilner@brunini.com or (601) 960-6842.

Related Attorneys

  • John E. Milner

OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard is Here (Maybe) – Now What?

November 11, 2021 by Brunini Law

By:  Chris Fontan

On November 4, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) released its anticipated, or controversial, emergency temporary standard (“ETS”) aimed at curbing further spread of COVID-19. The ETS—which is a “vaccinate-or-test” workplace mandate—applies to most employers with 100 or more employees (“Employers”).  Under the ETS, Employers must either mandate COVID vaccinations or require masking combined with proof of negative COVID tests on a weekly basis as a condition of employment.

All requirements of the ETS, other than testing for unvaccinated employees, are effective 30 days after publication of the ETS in the Federal Register (i.e., Dec. 5, 2021). Thus, the ETS requires Employers to ensure all unvaccinated employees working “in person” begin wearing masks by Dec. 5, 2021, and start providing negative COVID-19 tests on a weekly basis beginning Jan. 4, 2022.

As expected, numerous legal challenges to the ETS have been and will continue to be made in the coming weeks. As we previously reported, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently enacted a nationwide injunction, temporarily preventing OSHA from enforcing the ETS.  While the future of the ETS remains uncertain due to this and similar legal challenges, it will take weeks of planning for employers to comply with the ETS’s deadlines. With that in mind, employers should continue preparing for the ETS as if it is going to take effect while litigation continues.  As a result, employers must continue to prepare for potential compliance with the ETS.

Overview of the ETS’ Requirements

According to a “Fact Sheet” prepared by OSHA, the ETS requires Employers to do the following:

  • Implement a mandatory, written COVID-19 vaccination policy, with or without an exception allowing employees to instead undergo weekly COVID-19 testing (beginning Jan. 4, 2022) and wear a face covering at the workplace (beginning Dec. 5, 2021).
  • Obtain proof of the vaccination status of each employee.
  • Create a roster/list showing the vaccination status of each employee.
  • Securely maintain both the proof of vaccination status and the roster/list.
  • Provide employees with up to four (4) hours of paid time off to receive each primary vaccination injection/dose.
  • Provide employees with a “reasonable amount” of paid sick leave to recover from any side effects experienced following each primary vaccination injection/dose.
  • Ensure that each employee who is not fully vaccinated is tested at least weekly for COVID-19 (if in the workplace at least once a week) or within seven days before returning to work (if away from the workplace for a week or longer).
  • Ensure that each employee who is not fully vaccinated wears a face covering when indoors or when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes (subject to specific, limited situations).
  • Require employees to promptly provide notice when they receive a positive COVID-19 test (or are diagnosed with COVID-19). Immediately remove any employee, regardless of vaccination status, from the workplace who receives a positive COVID-19 test/is diagnosed with COVID-19, and keep the employee out of the workplace until the return-to-work criteria are met.
  • Provide each employee with information they can understand about: the requirements of the ETS and workplace policies and procedures established to implement the ETS, the CDC document “Key Things to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines”, information about protections against retaliation and discrimination, and information about laws that provide for criminal penalties for knowingly supplying false statements or documentation.
  • Report work-related COVID-19 fatalities to OSHA within 8 hours of the employer learning about them, and work-related COVID-19 in-patient hospitalizations within 24 hours of learning about them.
  • Make certain records available to an employee or an employee representative for examination and copying.

Steps for Complying with the ETS

  1. Determine if your organization is covered by the ETS.

 

  1. Determine vaccination status of your organization’s employees.

 

  1. Evaluate available options and logistics for testing—even Employer’s opting for full vaccination mandate will need testing options as a potential “reasonable accommodation” for claimed disabilities and/or religious exemptions.

 

  1. Assess potential impact of paid-time-off and other new requirements.

 

  1. Determine your organization’s approach and draft a written policy.

 

  1. Craft necessary and required employee communications.

 

  1. Establish your organization’s reporting and recordkeeping protocols.

Employers are encouraged to take these steps, to continue to monitor developments with the ETS and pending litigation involving its implementation and to contact their labor and employment counsel for additional information concerning these developments.  If you need Labor & Employment counsel, please contact any member of Brunini’s Labor & Employment Practice Group.

 

 

 

 

 

Related Attorneys

  • Christopher R. Fontan

UPDATE: Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Issues Stay Blocking OSHA’s Vaccinate-or-Test Rule….For Now

November 8, 2021 by Brunini Law

By:  Chris Fontan

Less than 2 days after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) finally released its anticipated, and highly controversial, emergency temporary standard (“ETS”) addressing COVID-19 testing and vaccination, a federal court has thrown up a huge road block in the path of its full implementation.  The Court’s injunction temporarily prevents OSHA from enforcing its controversial new ETS.

 As we previously reported, on November 4, 2021, OSHA unveiled its controversial ETS, which essentially requires employers with 100 or more employees to either mandate COVID vaccinations or proof of negative COVID tests on a weekly basis as a condition of employment. As predicted, soon after President Biden initially instructed OSHA to begin working on plans for the proposed rule, the ETS was met with immediate legal challenges. Most notably, a number of parties, including several businesses, advocacy groups, and the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Utah filed a motion for a preliminary and a permanent injunction with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

On Saturday, November 6, 2021, the Fifth Circuit granted their “emergency motion” and entered a preliminary stay barring enforcement of the ETS. Citing “grave statutory and constitutional issues,” the Court stayed the ETS until further notice by the Court. In addition, the Court ordered the parties to submit further briefing about the validity of the ETS by November 8th and 9th respectively. The stay order issued on November 6th is not a final ruling on the validity of the ETS, but will halt its implementation at least temporarily.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said the action stops Democratic President Joe Biden “from moving forward with his unlawful overreach.” Louisiana was one of the states bringing the lawsuit seeking to stop enforcement of the ETS.  “This is a great victory for the American people out there. Never before has the federal government tried in such a forceful way to get between the choices of an American citizen and their doctor. To me that’s the heart of the entire issue,” he said.  Meanwhile, Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda said the U.S. Department of Labor is “confident in its legal authority” to issue the rule, stating that the OSH Act of 1970 “explicitly gives OSHA the authority to act quickly in an emergency” and OSHA is “fully prepared to defend [the ETS] in court.”

The future of the ETS remains uncertain due to this and other pending legal challenges. While the final result is unknown, it will take weeks of planning for employers to comply with the ETS’s deadlines. With that in mind, employers should continue preparing for the ETS as if it is going to take effect while litigation continues.

 

 

Related Attorneys

  • Christopher R. Fontan

OSHA Finally Releases COVID Vaccine/Testing Mandate for Employers

November 6, 2021 by Brunini Law

By: Chris Fontan

On Thursday, November 4, 2021, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OSHA”) finally released its anticipated, and already controversial, emergency temporary standard (“ETS”) addressing COVID-19 testing and vaccination. The ETS—which is a “mandate-or-test” workplace vaccine rule—applies to most employers with 100 or more employees (“Employers”).  The ETS does not apply to: (1) employers who are covered by the recently-released Executive Order mandating vaccinations for federal employees and employees of federal contractors; (2) healthcare employers covered by the prior healthcare ETS; and/or (3) employees working from home or exclusively outdoors. After weeks of speculating over what was likely to be in the proposed rule, Employers are now left with the task of navigating their way through this new mandate.

Here is a general overview of the OSHA ETS:

100-Employee Threshold. In general, the OSHA ETS applies to employers with 100 or more employees. Unlike other OSHA standards that count employees on an “establishment” basis, the ETS covers any private employer with 100 or more employees across the entire company. This broad definition is much more inclusive and will affect many more employers than many previous OSHA standards. The ETS also expressly covers part-time, full-time, and remote employees in its “100 employee” count.

Vaccination Requirement. The ETS requires Employers develop, implement, and enforce a written, mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.  To meet this requirement, the policy must require vaccination of all employees, other than those for whom a vaccine is medically contraindicated, for whom a medical necessity requires a delay in vaccination, or who are otherwise entitled to a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act because they have a disability or sincerely held religious beliefs that conflict with the vaccination requirement.

As part of the required policy, the ETS requires Employers determine the vaccination status of each employee, obtain acceptable proof of vaccination, maintain records of each employee’s vaccination status, and maintain a roster of each employee’s vaccination status. At the same time, Employers must remain cognizant of their obligations to maintain the confidentiality of employee medical information, since OSHA and the EEOC view vaccine-related information like all employee medical information.

Testing Alternative. Consistent with President Biden’s initial announcement, the OSHA ETS also includes an exception from the vaccine mandate for Employers that instead establish, implement, and enforce a written policy allowing employees who are not fully vaccinated to elect to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at the workplace.  Those employees who are not fully vaccinated (including those entitled to reasonable accommodations for religious or medical reasons) must be tested for COVID-19 at least weekly (if in the workplace at least once a week) or within 7 days before returning to work (if away from the workplace for a week or longer).

Employers must maintain a record of each test result. Employees who fail to provide documentation of a COVID test result must be excluded from the workplace until they provide such test result. Notably, the ETS excuses any employees who test positive or are diagnosed with COVID-19 from these testing requirements for 90 days following their positive test or diagnosis.

Face coverings. The ETS requires Employers to ensure that each employee who is not fully vaccinated (thus, those opting for the testing alternative) wears a face covering when indoors or when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes, except in certain limited circumstances, including: when an employee is alone in a room with floor to ceiling walls and a closed door; for a limited time while the employee is eating or drinking at the workplace, or for identification purposes in compliance with safety and security requirements; when an employee is wearing a respirator or facemask; or where the employer can show that the use of face coverings is infeasible or creates a greater hazard that would excuse compliance. In addition, employers must not prevent any employee, regardless of vaccination status, from voluntarily wearing a face covering unless it creates a serious workplace hazard (e.g., interfering with the safe operation of equipment).

Paid Leave.  As part of the ETS, Employers are required to provide employees “reasonable time”—defined as up to four hours of paid time, to receive each vaccination dose, including travel time.  Employers may not require use of accrued sick or personal time for these purposes. In addition, Employers must provide reasonable time and paid sick leave to recover from side effects experienced following each dose. Employers may require use of accrued sick or personal time for these purposes.

Positive COVID-19 tests and employee removal. The ETS also mandates that Employers require their employees to promptly provide notice when they receive a positive COVID-19 test or are diagnosed with COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status. Once such notice is provided, the Employer must immediately remove the employee from the workplace, regardless of vaccination status and the worker must remain removed from workplace until they meet specified criteria for returning to work. Importantly—the ETS does not require that Employers provide paid leave to employees who are removed from the workplace because of a COVID-19 positive result or diagnosis, though paid time may be required by other laws, or by a collective bargaining agreement.

Notice to employees. Under the ETS, Employers are required to provide employees the following (in an appropriate language and at a literacy level):

  • Information about the requirements of the ETS and workplace policies and procedures established to implement the ETS;
  • The CDC document “Key Things to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines”;
  • Information about protections against retaliation and discrimination; and
  • Information about laws that provide for criminal penalties for knowingly supplying false statements or documentation.

Interaction with OSHA and Recordkeeping. As an OSHA requirement, the ETS requires Employers to report work-related COVID-19 fatalities to OSHA within 8 hours of learning about them, and work-related COVID-19 in-patient hospitalizations within 24 hours of the employer learning about the hospitalization. In addition, at OSHA’s request, an Employer will have four (4) business hours to provide its policy on vaccination/testing, and until the end of the next business day to provide all other records that must be maintained (i.e. proof of each employee’s vaccination status or test results as required by the ETS).  Employees also have the ability to request their own vaccination or testing records, and may submit requests for the aggregate number of fully vaccinated employees in the workplace along with the total number of employees at that workplace.

Key Dates.  Employers are required to be in compliance with the bulk of the ETS by Sunday, December 5, 2021.  Employers must begin obtaining weekly test results for employees who have not received all doses required for primary vaccination no later than Tuesday, January 4, 2022.

 

Related Attorneys

  • Christopher R. Fontan

2022 U.S. News – Best Lawyers ® “Best Law Firms” Awards Released

November 4, 2021 by Brunini Law

Jackson, MS., November 4, 2021 – Brunini Law Firm is excited to announce our inclusion in U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Law Firms” 2022 list, with the following areas achieving a Tier 1 ranking.

  • Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law
  • Bet-the-Company Litigation
  • Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
  • Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law
  • Commercial Finance Law
  • Communications Law
  • Construction Law
  • Corporate Law
  • Energy Law
  • Environmental Law
  • Gaming Law
  • Land Use & Zoning Law
  • Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants
  • Litigation – Bankruptcy
  • Litigation – Construction
  • Litigation – Environmental
  • Litigation – ERISA
  • Litigation – Intellectual Property
  • Litigation – Labor & Employment
  • Litigation – Land Use & Zoning
  • Litigation – Real Estate
  • Litigation – Securities
  • Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
  • Mergers & Acquisitions Law
  • Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law
  • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
  • Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants
  • Real Estate Law
  • Tax Law
  • Trademark Law
  • Trusts and Estates Law

Firms included in the 2022 edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” are recognized for professional excellence with consistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must first have a lawyer recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®, which recognizes 6% of lawyers practicing in the United States.

Achieving a tiered ranking, on a national and/or metropolitan scale, signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise. This recognition reflects the high level of respect a firm has earned in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.

Mississippi Poultry Association, Farm Bureau Win Appeal over Monroe County Poultry Farm Setback Restrictions

October 18, 2021 by Brunini Law

By John Milner, MPA Counsel – Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC

The Mississippi Poultry Association and the Mississippi Farm Bureau federation on September 23, 2021 won their case against the Monroe County Board of Supervisors (Board) over the Board’s 2017 ordinance that essentially doubled the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulatory setbacks for poultry farms from certain property boundaries.  These CEQ regulations are administered by the staff of the MS Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).

MPA and Farm Bureau challenged the Board decision in the Monroe County Circuit Court.  The case was first heard in 2018 by the late Judge Jim Roberts.  After his death, the appeal has been dormant on the court’s docket until it was set for oral argument before newly appointed Circuit Judge Chip Mills on September 23.

The Board adopted setbacks for poultry farms of 1200 feet for neighboring residences and 300 feet from the property line after residents in the Hamilton area objected to a planned broiler farm.  Monroe County was the only county with setbacks greater than the CEQ regulatory limits because in 2018, MPA and Farm Bureau were successful in getting a bill passed in the Mississippi Legislature to prevent cities and counties from going beyond regulatory limits.

The key provision of the 2018 legislative bill, House Bill 1122, specifically stated as follows:

No governing authority of any municipality or of any county shall adopt or impose any ordinance, regulation, rule or policy that prohibits or restricts agricultural operation, forestry activity or traditional farm practices on agricultural land or land that is otherwise unclassified if the land is used for an agricultural operation, forestry activity or traditional farm practices.  Additionally, if the activities being conducted on the land are regulated by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce or the Mississippi Forestry Commission, the provisions of those agencies’ statutes or the regulations promulgated by those agencies shall govern.

House bill 1122 Section 2 (a), 2018 Session, Mississippi Legislature (as approved by Governor).

Monroe County was exempted from the 2018 law because the lawsuit over the county’s ordinance was in court at the time the law took effect.  MPA and Farm Bureau decided to continue to pursue the case after the law passed.

In court briefs, Monroe County took the position in the oral argument that the MPA and Farm Bureau did not have the standing to sue.  Sheldon Alston, with Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, representing MPA and Farm Bureau, argued that (1) the Board’s ordinance was arbitrary and capricious, (2) improperly pre-empted CEQ’s regulatory authority and (3) was also improper because it was an illegal “spot zoning” and therefore invalid since Monroe County has no county-wide zoning plan.

After the oral arguments by the lawyers, Judge Mills decided:

  1. MPA and Farm Bureau did have standing to appeal the board’s decision;
  2. The Board members who held a public hearing and conducted research in 2017 were not arbitrary and capricious in the adoption of the ordinance;
  3. The Supervisors did not pre-empt CEQ’s authority by adopting greater setbacks, but finally,
  4. The ordinance was a land use restriction and because Monroe County does not have a county-wide zoning plan, the ordinance is void and unenforceable.

The decision brings Monroe County in line with the other 81 counties and 300 municipalities which are prohibited by the 2018 legislation from developing their own environmental regulations on agriculture in place the CEQ regulations implemented by MDEQ staff.  The ruling is a significant victory for the poultry industry since it confirms that only the CEQ can promulgate environmental restrictions and requirements for poultry farms or other facilities.

If you have any questions concerning this article, feel free to contact John Milner, MPA Counsel, at jmilner@brunini.com or (601) 960-6842.

Article from Emerging Trends: A Newsletter of the Mississippi Poultry Association

Related Attorneys

  • John E. Milner
  • Sheldon G. Alston

Leonard A. Blackwell II to Retire

September 30, 2021 by Brunini Law

Brunini Law Firm today announces that Leonard A. Blackwell II will retire effective October 1, 2021.

Mr. Blackwell has been with Brunini Law Firm since October 2011.  He is an active member of the Mississippi Bar and served as State Bar President and Mississippi Bar Commissioner.  He is a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and is a former Chairman of the Mississippi Gaming Commission.  Len has been recognized by “Best Lawyers ® in America” in the field of Gaming Law and is a member of the International Masters of Gaming Law and of the International Association of Gaming Attorneys.

“Throughout his career, Len has been the picture of what a lawyer should strive to be,” said Sam Kelly, Managing Partner of Brunini.  “His professionalism, collegiality, work ethic and service to his clients and community provide examples of which we all should aspire.  We wish Len well as he begins this new phase of life in retirement.”

Brunini Welcomes Breland Parker

September 27, 2021 by Brunini Law

Brunini Law Firm welcomes Breland Parker as our newest Associate in the firm’s litigation department.  Breland received his Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 2021, graduating summa cum laude.  In law school, Breland was an Executive Articles Editor for the Mississippi Law Journal and member of the Negotiation Board.  Prior to law school, he received his Bachelor of Accountancy from the University of Mississippi, where he graduated magna cum laude.

In both graduate and undergraduate studies, Breland was a member of Phi Kappa Phi which is the nation’s oldest and most selective multidisciplinary collegiate honor society.

He is admitted to the Mississippi Bar

 

For more information contact: bparker@brunini.com

Related Attorneys

  • Breland Parker
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