Firm: All
Practice Industry: All
Region: All
Country/ State: All
Tag: All
Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt | November 2022

In March 2022, the Oregon legislature passed House Bill (HB) 4002, which imposes new overtime pay requirements for agricultural workers beginning on January 1, 2023. The bill also establishes a refundable tax credit for eligible employers to help offset all or part of the additional wage expenses attributed to overtime pay ...

Revitalizing Brownfields has long been considered a centerpiece for community efforts to encourage growth and development of properties impacted by contamination.  In 2021, Oregon’s Legislature passed HB 2518, which seeks to enhance Brownfield development by making forgivable loans available to assist with the cleanup of blighted properties ...

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt | February 2022

Originally published on October 23, 2021 Revitalizing Brownfields has long been considered a centerpiece for community efforts to encourage growth and development of properties impacted by contamination.  In 2021, Oregon’s Legislature passed HB 2518, which seeks to enhance Brownfield development by making forgivable loans available to assist with the cleanup of blighted properties ...

On Thursday, August 19, 2022, as mandated by Executive Order 14063, issued by President Biden February 4, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council proposed a rule to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FARs) to require that federal contractors and their subcontractors enter into project labor agreements (PLAs) with unions as a condition to receiving federal construction contracts worth $35 million or more ...

On Thursday, August 19, 2022, as mandated by Executive Order 14063, issued by President Biden February 4, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council proposed a rule to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FARs) to require that federal contractors and their subcontractors enter into project labor agreements (PLAs) with unions as a condition to receiving federal construction contracts worth $35 million or more ...

New Past Performance Regulations from the SBA: Section 868 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, Public Law 116–283, required the Small Business Administration (the SBA) to develop regulations that permit small businesses, when submitting offers in response to federal procurements, to use their past performance as a member of a joint venture or as a subcontractor to a prime contractor ...

On June 9, 2022, Senate Bill (SB) 5910 will take full effect, providing assistance and a host of incentives to the development of green hydrogen production in Washington. The Washington legislature passed SB 5910 to take advantage of funds available under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which allocates $8 billion for the development of regional clean hydrogen hubs ...

As much of Oregon faces another year of drought, water experts say farmers and ranchers should be aware of all the tools available to them under the state's water rights laws. At a seminar Tuesday, Elizabeth Howard, Oregon water law attorney, and Lindsay Thane, natural resources attorney, both of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, spoke about nine tools for farmers through the state Water Resources Department, or OWRD ...

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt | September 2022

On September 8, 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the reserved right of the Metlakatlan Indian Community to fish in the off-reservation waters where Metlakatlans had traditionally fished, and held that Metlakatlans are not subject to an Alaska statute creating a limited-entry program for commercial fishing. Metlakatla Indian Community v ...

On March 30, 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in Oertwich v. Traditional Village Of Togiak, No. 19-36029 (9th Cir.) that has potential implications for tribal sovereign immunity, including recognizing that tribal sovereign immunity extends to tortious conduct occurring on non-tribal lands.  Ronald Oertwich (“Oertwich”) was a non-tribal member living in the City of Togiak, Alaska (the “City”) ...

On March 8, 2023, the Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 592, which, if passed by the House and signed by the governor, would significantly increase the penalty amounts that the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) could impose on an employer for workplace safety violations. In addition, SB 592 would require Oregon OSHA to conduct comprehensive inspections of a workplace under specific circumstances, greatly expanding the number of inspections that an employer could face ...

For those of us in the dispute resolution world in construction, one cultural trait that is seen with nearly all contractors is a strong sense to do the job right. Most businesses are small, and closely held. And most contractors carry significant pride in their work product and in keeping their clients happy. That character extends not only to work in progress, but also to resolution of issues related to the work after it is complete ...

Brenna K. Legaard is a registered patent attorney with Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt. Legaard wrote the following op-ed on the use of blockchain technology in health care.    When health care professionals and consumers think of blockchain, their minds very likely go to famous cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. But blockchain technology can be applied to so much more, including to the field of health care ...

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt | December 2022

Anyone familiar with the construction industry knows that retainage – or money held back from payment until a later time – is a tool that project owners and general contractors have long used to protect against contractor nonperformance or other project risks ...

Gov. Kate Brown on March 10, 2020 issued Executive Order 20-04, which directs state agencies to take actions to reduce and regulate greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Oregon Legislature’s goal of achieving greenhouse gas levels at least 75 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 ...

As most people are undoubtedly aware, the construction industry has seen material prices escalate astronomically over the past few months. Some specialty lumber prices have soared upwards of 6,000 percent. The cost of a sheet of plywood is double what it was even six months ago. Generally, contractors assume the risk of material prices when they sign a lump sum or GMP contract unless there is a material escalation clause included in the contract terms ...

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt | December 2021

On Jan. 25, President Biden signed Executive Order 14005 (the “Executive Order on Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers”), which modified the Buy American Act (BAA) to require the use of more American-made components on government projects ...

Many government agencies set goals for their construction projects to be awarded to disadvantaged business enterprises (DBE). The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) DBE certification program sets antidiscrimination regulations that states can implement for federal funding. The Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID) is the certifying authority of DBEs (on behalf of the DOT) in Oregon ...

As projects become more and more complicated, owners often look to simplify the building process by hiring  a single firm to handle both design and construction. This is perfectly legal and commonly known as the “design-build” delivery method.  A design-build project has many advantages. There is only one point of contact for the owner to manage ...

Smart buildings offer individuals, businesses and even cities better and more efficient ambient experiences. However, the connected technologies that make buildings “smart” tend to require processing massive amounts of data inputs, often including personal information ...

The pandemic has shined a bright light on the importance of safety and health in the workplace. While most employers are well aware of the rules that they are required to follow when it comes to safety and health, many have not thought about what to do when an OSHA inspector arrives at the workplace.  Here in Oregon, with some exceptions, most employers fall under the jurisdiction of Oregon Occupational Safety and Health (Oregon OSHA) ...

When faced with an OSHA citation, it is not uncommon for an employer to acknowledge that a rule was violated, accept the citation, pay the penalty, and move on. Often, evidence that a rule was violated is easily obtained by an OSHA inspector ...

On Aug. 16, President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. Although it garnered headlines mostly for its $80 billion commitment to the Internal Revenue Service, the IRA went a long way toward providing tax incentives to real estate and related industries. Selecting a few primary issues from the IRA, as with any large-scale legislation, can be a challenge ...

BUSINESS TODAY LOOKS NOTHING LIKE it did prepandemic. Every industry has experienced a shakeup in how organizations are managed, operated and shaped. COVID-19-driven pivots, the groundswell of demand for social change and continuous uncertainty has led to a long-overdue shift in business priorities. Chief among those is the need to drive innovation, which has never been more essential to success ...

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt | September 2021

In 1997, misguided individuals initiated a practice of recording liens against the homes of public officials and other public figures. Every county in Oregon has a system for recording information about property ownership rights. A lien is a limitation on the property ownership rights. A mortgage is an example of a lien and so is a contractor’s lien ...

dots