Insights

September

• 9/20/2013
  Client Alert: Wetlands and Isolated Surface Waters News
  This client alert provices an update on the Clean Water Act “jurisdictional waters” guidance and the Science Advisory Board's review of USEPA’s water body connectivity scientific literature search.
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• 9/19/2013
  Client Alert: Ohio EPA Releases Draft Guidance Documents on the Impact of HB 59
  House Bill 59, which becomes effective on September 29, 2013, amended several sections of Ohio law governing the disposal of waste substances generated from oil and gas production operations. On September 16, 2013, Ohio EPA released three draft Guidance documents to facilitate the implementation of the new oil and gas-related waste management requirements.
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• 9/18/2013
  • Lisa Pierce Reisz
  In Their Hands and in the Cloud: Managing Mobile Risks
  Lisa Pierce Reisz, a partner in the Vorys Columbus office, and Brian Donato, the firm’s chief information officer, co-authored an article for the September 2013 edition of Peer-To-Peer titled “In Their Hands and in the Cloud: Managing Mobile Risks.”
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• 9/16/2013
  Health Care Alert: CMS Makes it More Difficult for Acquiring Entities to Evade Successor Liability
  In a recently published policy memorandum, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided guidance regarding the automatic assignment of Medicare Provider Agreements upon a change of ownership.
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• 9/12/2013
  Client Alert: OSHA’s Proposed Silica Rule now Published in Federal Register
  OSHA’s proposed silica rule, supported by 800 pages of background information and scientific literature, was published in the Federal Register on September 12, 2013. The comment period, which commences with this date of publication will last 90 days (i.e., until December 11, 2013). Hearings will begin on March 4, 2014.
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• 9/6/2013
  Labor and Employment Alert: Federal Tax Treatment of Same-Gender Spouses
  Marriages between same-gender spouses will be recognized for federal income tax purposes if valid where performed (the state of celebration) regardless of whether the state in which the spouses live (the state of residence) recognizes the marriage.
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• 9/3/2013
  Labor and Employment Alert: OFCCP Releases Final Regulations Regarding Disabled And Veteran Workers
  On August 27, 2013, the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued final rules interpreting Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 503) and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA).
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August

• 8/28/2013
  • Aaron S. Berke
  • Elizabeth Turrell Farrar
  • Michael D. Martz
  • Mark A. Norman
  • Lisa Pierce Reisz
  • Kimberly J. Schaefer
  • Jeffery E. Smith
  • J. Bret Treier
  • Anthony D. Weis
  The Bankers' Statement - Summer 2013
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• 8/27/2013
  • Mark A. Norman
  Environmental Lender Liability: Tips to Stay Safe this Summer and Beyond
  Mark A. Norman, a partner in the Cincinnati office, authored this article on environmental lender liability for the Summer 2013 issue of The Bankers' Statement.
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• 8/5/2013
  • Lisa Pierce Reisz
  Advising Clients During a Big Health Care Data Breach
  Lisa Pierce Reisz, a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the health care group, authored an article for Communications Professional Resources Online (CommPRO.biz). In the article, she provides an overview of the information that public relations professionals need to know about the latest HIPAA breach notification rules, which become law in September 2013.
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• 8/1/2013
  Health Care Alert: New CMS Requirements for Long-Term Care Facilities that Contract with Hospice Providers
  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently published a final rule that adds a new Condition of Participation that requires long-term care facilities that choose to arrange for the provision of hospice care with one or more Medicare-certified hospice providers to have in place a written agreement with the hospice that specifies the roles and responsibilities of each entity.
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• 8/2013
  August Vorys Shale Report
  Our August issue of the Vorys Shale Report provides an overview of a recent court decision that enforces a change-in-ownership provision contained in an oil and gas lease. The newsletter also provides a report on activity in the Utica and Point Pleasant Shales.
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July

• 7/29/2013
  Combating Online Defamation Is an Essential Business Practice in the Digital Age
  Whitney Gibson, a partner in the Vorys Cincinnati office, and Christopher Anderson, Ph.D., co-founder of Cyber Investigation Services, LLC, co-authored an article for the Bloomberg BNA: Social Media Law & Policy Report about techniques that companies can use to remove misinformation and defamation from the internet.
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• 7/24/2013
  Client Alert: NIOSH Studies Worker Exposure to Silica During Hydraulic Fracturing and Issues An Alert
  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in collaboration with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), has issued a "Hazard Alert" for the oil and gas industry regarding worker exposure to crystalline silica. The alert merits the attention of all who are involved with hydraulic fracturing operations.
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• 7/15/2013
  Labor and Employment Alert: Implications of the Delay of the Pay or Play Penalties
  The postponement of the pay or play penalties and related reporting from 2014 to 2015 gives employers a welcome opportunity to reassess their compliance strategies and plan for a more measured implementation of new systems. However, the pay or play penalties are related to the availability of federal premium assistance for the purchase of health insurance on an exchange. The absence of pay or play penalties and related reporting in 2014 may increase the number of employees buying health insurance on an exchange with federal premium assistance in 2014.
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• 7/11/2013
  • Jackie Ford
  Facebook Password Bills Are Pointless And Unfair
  Jackie Ford, partner in the Vorys Houston and Columbus offices, authored an article for Employment Law360 about laws being passed by some state legislatures that ban employers from asking employees and/or job applicants for social media passwords.
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• 7/2013
  July Vorys Shale Report
  Our July issue of the Vorys Shale Report provides an overview of how energy companies are facing specific, targeted scrutiny from the federal government on wage-and-hour issues.
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• 7/8/2013
  Client Alert: Employers Should Regroup Now Following ACA Coverage Mandate Delay
  The White House and Treasury announced on July 2nd that they are delaying enforcement of the ACA’s employer coverage mandate (which requires employers with 50+ full-time equivalent employees to provide affordable, adequate health coverage to substantially all of the employer’s full-time employees and their children) until 2015 to enable a more orderly roll-out of the reporting and disclosure requirements that will form the basis for the imposition of the employer penalties.
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• 7/8/2013
  Labor and Employment Alert: U.S. Supreme Court Strikes DOMA's Definition of "Spouse", Expanding FMLA Coverage for Employees in Legally Recognized Same-Sex Marriages
  The United States Supreme Court recently issued its long-awaited decision in United States v. Windsor, No. 12-307, ruling that the section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that required federal laws to ignore same-sex marriages that are legally entered into under an applicable state law is unconstitutional.
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• 7/8/2013
  Immigration Alert: Effect of DOMA Decision on Immigration Law
  On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States held in United States v. Windsor that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violated the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.
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