VALVE MAGAZINE Summer 2024

Automation Group Rebranded as E Tech Group E Tech Group, a leader in providing high-quality automation, control and engineering services for industrial clients and Gold Certified Rockwell Automation Partner, announced that the brand formerly called Automation Group has been renamed as E Tech Group. E Tech Group’s acquisition of Automation Group was finalized on October 3, 2023. Effective immediately, the brand formerly known as Automation Group will operate under the name E Tech Group, unifying the two entities under one brand. The transition to the new name will be seamless for clients and partners. All existing commitments remain in place, ensuring continuity and stability. “The strategic direction and growth mindset of E Tech Group aligned seamlessly with that of Automation Group,” said Randy Ruano, former president of Automation Group. “Our company has always placed a strong emphasis on taking care of our people, both internally and externally. Our first core value is being people-fo cused. During discussions with E Tech Group’s leadership, we identified a shared commitment to prioritizing people, which made the decision to move forward with a buyout simple.”

INDUSTRY NEWS

US Supreme Court Overrules Chevron Doctrine

couldn’t anticipate all the conse quences of laws it passed, and as such the regulatory agencies would be in a position to make those interpretations. This ruling shifts the responsi bility to the courts, especially when a statute is ambiguous. “Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority opinion. He said that the ruling does not question prior cases that relied on the precedent, but going forward lower courts “may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous.” While there are anticipated to be many legal battles on past cases and regulations, today’s ruling does applies to future regulations and provides an avenue for many legal challenges, especially in cases of alleged regulatory overreach that many manufacturers and others may believe they have experienced. Officer Linda Kelly. “What the EPA did, however, was to bulldoze ahead with standards that set an acceptable level for PFAS at near zero — which is wholly infeasible and threatens these vital substances’ continued applica tion in manufacturing processes. In doing so, the EPA relied on a deeply flawed cost-benefit analysis and failed to follow the clear-cut statutory proce dures required by the Safe Drinking Water Act, among other substantive and procedural deficiencies. The NAM Legal Center is filing suit to overturn this unachievable standard and protect manufacturing operations and jobs across the country.”

he U.S. Supreme Court overruled a longstanding precedent set in 1984 with Chevron vs. Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the most cited cases in American law. More than 17,000 lower court cases and 70 Supreme Court decisions were based on Chevron. The principle of the 1984 ruling allowed regulatory agencies the power to interpret laws that were left vague and open to interpretation by Congress. The thinking was that Congress

Manufacturers Challenge Costly Water Standard

The National Association of Manufacturers, joined by the American Chemistry Council,

filed a petition in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule setting individual stan dards for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, in municipal water systems. “Manufacturers support common sense regulations on PFAS that recognize the criticality of these substances across several industrial sectors — for many of these critical applications, there are no viable alternatives,” said NAM Chief Legal

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VALVE MAGAZINE

SUMMER 2024