On April 19, 2016, Roncevert Almond, Partner at The Wicks Group, addressed the Industrial Packaging Alliance of North America’s (IPANA) at its 2016 Spring Technical Conference in Alexandria, VA. Mr. Almond discussed limitations and exceptions under the Fourth Amendment as set forth in United States Supreme Court precedent and applied under Federal Hazmat Law by executive agencies in relation to warrantless searches of commercial premises.
Mr. Almond reviewed the legal development and rationales underlying the “closely-regulated industries” doctrine under the Fourth Amendment. He explained that industries subject to warrantless searches under this doctrine must ask two queries: whether their commercial activity meets the definition of a “closely-regulated industry,” and, if so, whether the warrantless search is “reasonable” as measured by criteria first articulated by the Court in New York v. Burger in 1987.
“The policy of the U.S. Department of Transportation and its modal agencies is to apply the ‘closely-regulated industries’ exception to the application of Federal Hazmat Law, 49 U.S.C. § 5101, and the conduct of unscheduled searches of commercial property, but this power must be exercised judiciously,” explained Mr. Almond. “As the Court recently affirmed in 2015 in the City of Los Angeles, California v. Patel, the constitutionality of any such inspection will be based on whether the legislative and regulatory scheme is applied with certainty and regularity, and pursuant to a defined scope that sufficiently constrains the discretion of the inspector.”
One major concern voiced by the conference audience centered on how businesses should handle inspector requests for commercially-sensitive information. To this point, Mr. Almond explained that businesses generally have the right to redact details concerning pricing data and request confidentiality for portions of their customer lists in order to protect proprietary information.
Mr. Almond’s address followed a presentation from David Wasserman, the U.S. House editor and quantitative election analyst for the non-partisan Cook Political Report. Mr. Wasserman provided an overview of the 2016 presidential election cycle. Additional speakers included Dr. Jurgen Bruder of the International Confederation of Plastic Packaging Producers and Jorg Hoeppner, Executive Director of SEFA. Bruder and Hoeppner’s presentations explored trends in Global Intermediate Bulk Container markets and trends in European steel packaging, respectively.
The Wicks Group is a multi-disciplinary legal and consulting firm that provides specialized services to clients with aviation and transportation-related interests world-wide. The Wicks Group serves as association counsel for the IPANA. In that role, the firm advises the leadership of the Alliance and its independent affiliates on regulatory and legislative issues impacting the industry, and ensures compliance with U.S. antitrust laws and guidelines.
IPANA is an association of four independent organizations which represent manufactures of industrial packaging: the Industrial Steel Drum Institute (ISDI), the International Fiber Drum Institute (IFDI), the Plastic Drum Institute (PDI), and the Rigid Intermediate Bulk Container Association (RIBCA). These groups represent the core of industrial packaging in North America and the manufacturing companies that belong to these groups comprise a significant proportion of the industrial packaging capacity on the region.
For more information about TWG’s representation of IPANA and participation in the 2016 Spring Technical Conference, please contact Roncevert Almond (ralmond@wicks-group.com).