Asbestos Tests Must Continue
Headline Legal News
Courthouse News reports that air tests for asbestos-like fibers must continue at a Minnesota mining plant because a 1975 order to do so has been folded into the state's environmental laws, the 8th Circuit ruled.
Northshore Mining Co., a taconite processing facility in Silver Bay, Minn., has tried for several years to get fiber tests removed from state permits.
But the St. Louis-based 8th Circuit agreed with a district court that the 34-year-old law is moot because it "has been effectively incorporated into state administrative law."
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Texas Adopts Statewide Texting-While-Driving Ban
Effective September 1, 2017, Texas will become the 47th state to pass a statewide ban on texting while driving. Governor Abbott’s signing of House Bill 62 is an effort to unify Texas under a uniform ban and remedy the “patchwork quilt of regulations that dictate driving practices in Texas.”
The bill specifically prohibits drivers from reading, writing, or sending an electronic message on a device unless the vehicle is stopped. That includes texting and emailing. It does not, however, prohibit dialing a number to call someone, talking on the phone using a hands-free device, or using the phone’s GPS system.
Violations would be punishable by a fine ranging from $25 to $99, to be set by each municipality. Although penalties could rise to as much as $200 for repeat offenders.
Studies have found that a driver’s reaction time is half as much when a driver is distracted by sending or reading a text message. According to state officials, in 2015 more than 105,000 traffic accidents in Texas involved distracted driving, leading to at least 476 fatalities.