Hunton Retail Law Resource

In California, shoppers will no longer be offered plastic bags at the grocery store checkout. Under a new law, effective January 1, 2026, single-use shopping bags are banned from any point of sale. This includes bags made from plastic, paper, or other materials that are not recycled paper or certified reusable bags. However, the ban does not apply to bags used before the point of sale, such as produce bags and overwrap for fresh meat.

As recently reported on the Hunton Retail Law Resource blog, Washington State became the first-in-the-nation to pass an almost complete ban on the manufacture and sale of cookware containing lead in March 2024. Starting in January 2026, HB 1551 sets the maximum lead content level for cookware and cookware components at five (5) parts per million (ppm). The law is both broad in scope and stringent in its lead limit, making it important for entities that sell cookware or offer cookware for sale in the state of Washington to begin thinking about compliance now. 

In March 2024, Washington State became the first-in-the-nation to pass an almost complete ban on the manufacture and sale of cookware containing lead. Starting in January 2026, HB 1551 sets the maximum lead content level for cookware and cookware components at five (5) parts per million (ppm). The law is both broad in scope and stringent in its lead limit, making it important for entities that sell cookware or offer cookware for sale in the state of Washington to begin thinking about compliance now.

The Chevron doctrine – the bedrock principle of administrative law under which courts afforded deference to administrative agency interpretations in the face of statutory ambiguity – is no more.  On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a long-anticipated decision that addresses the authority of regulatory agencies to dictate policy and the extent to which courts will exercise their own judgment as to the meaning of a statute and how that may bound agency decisions.