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DoD Proposes Significant Amendments to the DFARS Data Rights Scheme

Client Alert | 1 min read | 06.27.16

On June 16, 2016, DoD issued a proposed rule to amend the DFARS to implement section 815 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2012, which made significant changes to the data rights scheme for DoD contracts. Among other things, the proposed rule permits the release of “segregation and reintegration” technical data and computer software outside of the government (subject to restrictions), even when the item, component, or process to which that data pertains or the computer software was developed exclusively at private expense; expands DoD’s ability to order technical data and computer software post-award; doubles the time period in which DoD may challenge asserted data rights restrictions; and expressly imposes no time limit on DoD’s right to challenge fraudulently asserted restrictions.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 05.28.26

PFAS Regulatory Alert: EPA Rolls Back RCRA Proposed Rule on “Hazardous Waste” but Does Not Disturb Proposed RCRA Rule on PFAS

Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdrew a February 2024 Biden administration proposed rule, “Definition of Hazardous Waste Applicable to Corrective Action for Releases From Solid Waste Management Units,” under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).[1] The withdrawn proposal would have revised RCRA corrective action regulations to expressly apply the broader statutory definition of “hazardous waste,” rather than only the narrower regulatory definition. Now, EPA is maintaining the status quo for corrective action under RCRA. However, EPA’s withdrawal of its proposed RCRA hazardous waste definition makes no mention of its corresponding proposal from 2024 to list nine per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as RCRA hazardous constituents.[2] This disjointed withdrawal, while providing some certainty for regulated entities, does not resolve how EPA plans to address PFAS under the RCRA program....