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      All articles — page 5

      The full handbook in alphabetical order, across every subject.

      49
      Advertising Law

      Free, Bonus and Shipping and Handling Claims

      Under 16 CFR Part 251 a free offer requires that the article bought to obtain the free item be sold at its regular price, meaning the price at which it has been openly and actively sold in the trade area for a reasonably substantial period. The seller may not increase that price, reduce quantity or quality, or recoup the cost through a shipping and handling charge. All conditions must be disclosed with the offer, and repeated free offers of the same article are limited in frequency and duration.

      6 min readFederal law

      50
      Motor Carrier Law

      Freight Brokers: Bonds, Duties and Double Brokering

      A broker sells or arranges transportation by motor carrier for compensation and must register under 49 U.S.C. 13904 and maintain financial security under 49 U.S.C. 13906, filed as a surety bond on Form BMC-84 or a trust fund on Form BMC-85. The broker regulations in 49 CFR Part 371 require a record of each transaction, kept for three years and open to the parties. Unauthorized brokerage carries a civil penalty under 49 U.S.C. 14916 and liability to the injured party.

      6 min readFederal law

      51
      Water Rights

      General Stream Adjudications and How a Claim Is Filed

      A general stream adjudication is a comprehensive proceeding, judicial in most states, that determines every right to the use of water from a source and enters a decree ranking them by priority. All claimants must be joined, and the United States may be joined under the McCarran Amendment where a comprehensive adjudication is under way. A claimant who fails to file a statement of claim by the court's deadline generally forfeits the claim, whatever the underlying history of use.

      5 min readState law

      52
      Agricultural & Food Law

      Grain Warehouse Licensing and Depositor Protection

      Grain warehouses may be licensed federally under the United States Warehouse Act or under a state system. Licensing requires financial standards, insurance, bonding or other financial assurance, and periodic examination. A warehouse receipt evidences a bailment and gives the holder rights in the stored grain. Open storage and deferred pricing arrangements are treated differently on failure, and state indemnity funds cover defined claim classes on short deadlines.

      6 min readFederal and state

      53
      Labor Relations

      Grievance Arbitration and the Narrow Standard of Review

      Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act gives federal courts jurisdiction over suits for violation of contracts between an employer and a labor organization, and the law built on it favors arbitration. A court orders arbitration unless it can say with positive assurance that the clause does not cover the dispute. An award stands if it draws its essence from the agreement.

      5 min readFederal law

      54
      Correctional Law

      Grievance Exhaustion Before Suit, and What Counts as Available

      Under 42 U.S.C. 1997e(a) no action concerning prison conditions may be brought by a confined person until such administrative remedies as are available are exhausted. Exhaustion must be proper: the grievance must comply with the institution's own deadlines and levels of appeal. The Supreme Court has identified three circumstances in which a remedy is unavailable, including a process that operates as a dead end, one so opaque that it cannot be used, and one thwarted by staff.

      6 min readFederal and state

      55
      Water Rights

      Groundwater Management Areas and Pumping Limits

      Most western states allocate groundwater by appropriation, while others apply absolute ownership, reasonable use or correlative rights. Where levels decline or wells interfere, a state agency may designate a management area after study and hearing. Designation supports a moratorium on new permits, well spacing, metering, allocations stated per irrigated acre, and scheduled reductions.

      5 min readState law

      56
      Motor Carrier Law

      Hazardous Materials: Classification, Packaging and Shipping Papers

      The hazardous materials regulations in 49 CFR Parts 171 through 180 sort materials into nine hazard classes and, for most classes, three packing groups. The entry selected from the table at 49 CFR 172.101 fixes the proper shipping name, the identification number, the labels, the packaging sections and the quantity limits. A shipping paper must state the basic description in the prescribed sequence and carry an emergency response number monitored during transportation.

      5 min readFederal law

      57
      Environmental Law

      Hazardous Waste Generator Categories and the Duties of Each

      Generators fall into three categories determined by the quantity of hazardous waste generated in a calendar month: very small quantity generators at or below one hundred kilograms, small quantity generators above one hundred and below one thousand kilograms, and large quantity generators at one thousand kilograms or more. Acute hazardous waste has its own far lower thresholds. Category determines accumulation time, container standards, training, contingency planning and reporting.

      6 min readFederal and state

      58
      Motor Carrier Law

      Hours of Service: The Driving, Duty and Rest Limits

      Under 49 CFR 395.3 a property-carrying driver may drive up to eleven hours after ten consecutive hours off duty, may not drive beyond the fourteenth consecutive hour after coming on duty, and must interrupt driving for thirty minutes after eight cumulative hours of driving. Weekly limits are sixty hours in seven consecutive days or seventy in eight, and thirty-four consecutive hours off duty restarts that calculation.

      5 min readFederal law

      59
      Immigration Sponsorship

      How a Wage and Hour Investigation of a Sponsor Proceeds

      An investigation may open on a complaint by an aggrieved party filed within a limited period, on credible information from a reliable source, or on the agency's own initiative where the employer has been found a willful violator. The investigator examines the public access file, payroll, the applications and the petitions. Remedies include back wages, penalties in tiers, debarment and reinstatement, and a determination is contested by requesting a hearing.

      5 min readFederal law

      60
      Labor Relations

      Information Requests and the Duty to Respond

      The duty to bargain in good faith carries a duty to furnish information the other party needs to bargain and to administer the agreement. Information about the terms of employment of unit employees is presumptively relevant and needs no justification. Information outside the unit requires an objective factual basis. A confidentiality interest obliges the holder to raise it promptly and to bargain an accommodation.

      5 min readFederal law