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NEB.Roundup

Law roundup: seven FAA airworthiness directives, IRS and HUD fee changes, Nebraska harvest weight relief

Sixteen federal rules and notices published September 24 to 28, plus one Nebraska executive order. They include seven FAA airworthiness directives and new IFR altitudes, an IRS estate tax closing letter fee rising from $56 to $76, a 1.05% HUD Section 108 guarantee fee for fiscal 2027, PHMSA's adoption of ASME Section XII for transport tanks, FTC rules of practice changes, and Nebraska's 90-day, permit-free 25% weight allowance for harvest haulers.

Entries (State of Nebraska, Office of the Governor) → · Federal Register
ALASKARoundup

State law roundup: 20 California laws on licensing, EV charging, elections and welfare, plus Alaska game rules

Twenty California laws signed September 18 to 25 and one Alaska regulation package. California extended three licensing boards to 2031, capped multifamily EV charger permit fees, widened streamlined EV permitting, allowed E15 under existing vapor-control certifications, set in-person vote-by-mail procedures, expanded translated election materials, dropped the CalWORKs 100-hour work test and will revoke licenses for six years after an injury DUI with four prior convictions. Alaska's archery and predator-control rules took effect September 23.

Entries (Alaska Online Public Notices) → · California Legislative Information
U.S. FEDRoundup

Federal law roundup: softwood lumber assessment, NHTSA target waiver, Access Board FOIA rules

Three federal final rules were published September 22 and 23. USDA clarified that the softwood lumber assessment of $0.41 per thousand board feet applies on a nominal count and added a U.S. South seat to the Softwood Lumber Board, effective October 22. NHTSA waived, for fiscal year 2027 only, the requirement that states' common highway safety targets match FHWA's. The Access Board replaced its FOIA regulations with a new 36 CFR part 1120.

Entries (Federal Register) →
CAL.Regulation

California requires human fallback for customer-service chatbots at large businesses

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1609 on September 28, 2026. Large businesses with over $500 million in annual national revenue may not present a customer-service chatbot as human and must disclose that it is AI-generated when misdirection is likely. During business hours they must offer a simple way to reach a human agent and make a good-faith effort to connect within 15 minutes or schedule a callback within one business day.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor
CAL.Regulation

California gives parents remote-meeting option with teachers

Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1412 on September 28, 2026, amending Education Code Section 51101. From January 1, 2027, a parent, guardian or educational rights holder who cannot attend an individual meeting about their child in person has the right to communicate with the teacher by telephone or a school-approved web conferencing platform. Such meetings may not be recorded or transcribed, and the school must notify the parent of privacy and confidentiality risks.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor
CAL.Regulation

California streamlines permits and caps fees for residential heat pumps

Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 222 on September 28, 2026, adding Chapter 7.5 to the Government Code as a matter of statewide concern. Cities and counties must offer asynchronous inspections of residential heat pump water heater and HVAC installations by July 1, 2027, cap permit fees at $150 and $200 respectively, and run online real-time automated permitting for qualifying swapouts by July 1, 2028. Plug-in ready window heat pump units rated 120 volts or less need no permit or inspection.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor
CAL.Regulation

California extends ad-loudness rule to music and podcast streaming

Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 96 on September 28, 2026. Effective January 1, 2027, music streaming, podcast streaming, and video streaming services serving California consumers may not transmit commercial advertisements louder than the content they accompany, consistent with FCC regulations under the federal Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act. The bill also clarifies that "video streaming service" includes user-generated video platforms.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor
CAL.Regulation

California eases library-card rules for 16- and 17-year-olds

Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 965 on September 28, 2026, adding Section 18732 to the Education Code. Beginning January 1, 2028, a public library may not require the presence of a parent or guardian to issue a library card to a California resident who is 16 or 17 years old. A library may still require a parent's or guardian's consent or signature unless the minor is emancipated.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor
UK · ETCourt order

Employment tribunal orders barrister to pay £6,767 wasted costs after he appeared from trains in Germany

Birmingham Employment Tribunal ordered barrister Michael Engelhardt-Sprack to pay £6,767.44 in wasted costs to the first respondent in Burns v Gitpod GmbH after he tried to conduct the first day of a remote final hearing from two trains in Germany on 12 May 2025, Legal Futures reported. In a costs judgment dated 18 February 2026, Employment Judge Wedderspoon called the conduct totally inappropriate and unprofessional and a breach of presidential guidance. The hearing resumed the next day in person.

Opinion (Employment Tribunals (England and Wales)) → · Legal Futures
CAL.Regulation

California requires youth football leagues to allow soft-shell helmet add-ons

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 708, the California Youth Football Act safety-equipment amendment, on September 28, 2026, adding Section 124241.2 to the Health and Safety Code. Youth tackle-football leagues, organizations and coaches must allow participants to use safety equipment including soft-shell helmet add-ons. Courts may grant injunctive relief for violations, and a prevailing plaintiff who obtains relief is entitled to reasonable attorney's fees and costs. The law takes effect January 1, 2027.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor

Rulings this week

All court orders

CAL.Regulation

California suspends summer-blend gasoline rule and orders fuel spot-market reports

On September 28, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom suspended California's seasonal summer-blend gasoline requirement for the remainder of the season and directed state agencies to enable winter-blend gasoline to be manufactured, imported, distributed, and sold immediately, exercising authority under SB 237 (Grayson, 2025). He separately directed the California Energy Commission, consulting CARB and the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, to publish a regular public spot-market report for gasoline and diesel and to collect information on renewable diesel pricing.

Text (Office of Governor Gavin Newsom) → · Office of the Governor
D. MASS.Court order

Massachusetts federal court rejects challenge to Trader Joe's 401(k) forfeitures but orders $1.2M fee award

U.S. District Judge William Young issued findings of fact and rulings of law following a six-day bench trial in an ERISA class action against Trader Joe's. The court rejected claims that Trader Joe's unlawfully used forfeited retirement funds to offset employer contributions and a claim over a poorly performing fund, but ruled for participants on claims that fiduciaries failed to monitor recordkeeping fees, awarding $1,187,221 in damages and interest.

Order (U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts) → · Reuters, Law360
CAL.Regulation

California protects resident tuition for military dependents after transfer

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1346 on September 28, 2026, amending Education Code Section 68074. A dependent child, stepchild or spouse of an active-duty servicemember who holds resident tuition classification and is granted the right to reenroll at a California public college or university keeps that classification even if the servicemember has been transferred out of state or has retired from active duty. The change takes effect January 1, 2027.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor
CAL.Regulation

California grants priority college registration to veteran and GI Bill students

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2203 on September 28, 2026, adding Section 66025.4 to the Education Code. Beginning with the 2028-29 academic year, every California State University campus and community college district campus that runs a priority enrollment system must grant priority registration to students receiving a veteran-dependent fee waiver and to students using federal GI Bill benefits. The University of California is requested to do the same.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor
CAL.Regulation

California orders performance framework for county veterans service offices

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2219 on September 28, 2026 (Chapter 728, Statutes of 2026). From January 1, 2027, counties must fill a county veterans service officer vacancy within 12 months, and appointees must obtain department accreditation within nine months. The Department of Veterans Affairs must set minimum training requirements, develop a service-capacity and performance framework for county offices, build a statewide work queue by January 1, 2029, and report to the Legislature every three years.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor
CAL.Regulation

California grants property tax exemption to disabled-veteran homeowners

Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 296 on September 28, 2026. For lien dates from January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2031, it exempts 50 percent of the first $1 million in value of the principal residence of a 100 percent disabled veteran, rising to 100 percent for claimants under a household income limit, and extends the exemption to eligible unmarried surviving spouses. As a tax levy, the act took effect immediately.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor
CAL.Regulation

California creates 'Non-Ultraprocessed Certified' food label standard

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2244 on September 28, 2026 (Chapter 721). It creates a state "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified" food standard: the Department of Public Health must accredit certification agents and create an official seal by June 1, 2029, and qualifying large grocery stores must identify certified products for shoppers.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor
CAL.Regulation

California requires tobacco retailers to post lung-cancer screening signage

Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1124 on September 28, 2026, adding Section 22974.6 to the Business and Professions Code. The State Department of Public Health must make lung-cancer screening awareness signage available free on its website by July 1, 2027, and every tobacco retailer must conspicuously display it at each retail location beginning January 1, 2028. A retailer that fails to display the sign is liable for a $500 civil penalty per offense per location.

Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Office of the Governor
N.D. CAL.Court order

California federal judge denies class certification in Energizer and Walmart battery price-fixing lawsuits

A California federal court denied class certification to three putative purchaser classes accusing Energizer Holdings and Walmart of conspiring to inflate disposable battery prices through wholesale distribution agreements. U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts held that the plaintiffs failed to establish commonality and antitrust impact on a classwide basis, finding that their economists' difference-in-differences regression models did not satisfy the foundational parallel trends assumption.

Order (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California) → · Reuters, VitalLaw, Hoodline
ILL.People moves

Reed Smith hires Neal Gerber emerging tech partner Kate Campbell in Chicago

Kate Campbell joined Reed Smith as a partner in its global corporate group and emerging technologies group in Chicago, Bloomberg Law reported on September 29, 2026. Campbell advises on AI governance, data privacy, cybersecurity, technology transactions, and digital product launches for startups through multinational companies. She joins from Neal Gerber Eisenberg.

Announcement (Bloomberg Law) → · Reed Smith
D. DEL.Litigation

Corteva and Inari settle Delaware seed patent dispute days into jury trial

Corteva Agriscience and gene-editing company Inari Agriculture settled their patent and plant variety protection litigation days into a jury trial in Delaware federal court over Inari's use of Corteva's patented corn and soybean seed deposits. Under a stipulated order of dismissal with prejudice signed by Judge John F. Murphy on September 28, Inari must destroy all Corteva biological materials within 30 days, assign its edited versions of Corteva traits to Corteva, and negotiate licensing agreements; other terms are confidential.

Filing (U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware) → · Reuters, The Patent Lawyer Magazine, Corteva Agriscience
D. DEL.Court order

Delaware federal court denies Pfizer and Moderna bids to dismiss Bayer COVID-19 vaccine mRNA patent lawsuits

U.S. Circuit Judge William Bryson, sitting by designation in Delaware federal court, denied motions to dismiss filed by Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna in patent infringement litigation brought by Bayer over messenger RNA technology. The court held that Bayer's asserted claims are not directed to patent-ineligible natural laws under Section 101 and that Bayer plausibly pled infringement under Section 271.

Opinion (U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware) → · Reuters, Law360, GuruFocus
U.S. FEDResearch

DISCO survey finds legal AI adoption up while consumption pricing worries grow

A DISCO-sponsored survey of 104 legal professionals by Ari Kaplan Advisors found more legal teams using AI in routine work, Above the Law reported on September 28, 2026. Fifty-eight percent said they had folded AI into routine processes, up from 35 percent a year earlier, and 72 percent said they were confident using it for document review. Legaltech News reported growing concern about consumption-based pricing.

Paper (Above the Law) → · Legaltech News