Blogs

On August 30, 2019, the National Nanotechnology Initiative published its supplement to the President’s 2020 budget request.  The supplement serves as NNI’s annual report required under the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act and addresses the requirement for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) reporting on its nanotechnology investments.  According to NNI, the President’s 2020 budget requests more than $1.4 billion for NNI, “a continued...

On September 4, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs’ Environmental Fate and Effects Division (EFED) announced that the next Environmental Modeling Public Meeting (EMPM) will be held on October 16, 2019.  The EMPM is a semi-annual public forum for EPA, pesticide registrants, and other stakeholders to discuss current issues related to modeling pesticide fate, transport, and exposure for risk assessments in a regulatory...

On September 11, 2019, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. (EDT), the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) will host a webinar titled “Genetic Engineering: The Good, The Bad, and The Necessary.” The webinar is designed to cover the vast possibilities offered by genetic engineering in a world where regulatory officials face increasing pressure to guarantee global food security. Along with the many possibilities associated with genetic engineering, however, there are great concerns about the...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On August 30, 2019, the National Chicken Council submitted a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expressing concerns with the proposed required volume obligations (RVO) for 2020 combined with the recent waiver that will increase the use of ethanol-15 (E15) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Representing companies that produce and process over 95 percent of the chicken in the United States, the National Chicken Council’s concerns are related...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On September 3, 2019, Medium published an article by U.S. Senator and 2020 Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren where she outlines her plan for achieving 100 percent clean energy. Highlighting the fact that the United States is the world’s largest historical carbon polluter, Warren claims that the United States has a “special responsibility to lead the way” in the clean energy movement. As an original supporter of...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On September 5, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science announced an open meeting of the Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee (BERAC). The purpose of the meeting will be to provide advice to the Office of Science Director on various technical issues that occur in the development and implementation of the Biological and Environmental Research Program. Tentative agenda topics listed by DOE include news from the Office...

On October 2, 2019, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will hold a webinar on “Nanotechnology for a New Generation of Gas Sensors:  An Industrial Perspective on Fundamental, Applied, and Commercialization Aspects.”  According to the overview for the webinar, contemporary monitoring requirements of gases for applications ranging from environmental surveillance to medical diagnostics currently push the limit of existing detection.  The overview states that to...

On September 4, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new guidance intended to help methylene chloride processors and distributors comply with EPA’s March 2019 rule issued under Section 6(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) prohibiting the manufacture (including import), processing, or distribution in commerce of methylene chloride for consumer paint and coating removal.  The final rule became effective on May 28, 2019.  Each person who...

In a significant victory for industry, on August 27, 2019, the State of New York Supreme Court invalidated the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure Program (Disclosure Program).  Information related to NYDEC’s prior delay of its enforcement of its Disclosure Program is available here, and general information regarding the Program and its extensive requirements for manufacturers of certain consumer cleaning products to...

In a significant victory for industry, on August 27, 2019, the State of New York Supreme Court invalidated the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure Program (Disclosure Program).  Information related to NYDEC’s prior delay of its enforcement of its Disclosure Program is available here, and general information regarding the Program and its extensive requirements for manufacturers of certain consumer cleaning products to...

 In a significant victory for industry, on August 27, 2019, the State of New York Supreme Court invalidated the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure Program (Disclosure Program).  Information related to NYDEC’s prior delay of its enforcement of its Disclosure Program is available here, and general information regarding the Program and its extensive requirements for manufacturers of certain consumer...

On August 27, 2019, the Supreme Court of the State of New York issued its decision in a challenge to New York’s (NY) Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure Program (Disclosure Program) brought by the Household and Commercial Cleaning Products Association (HCPA) and American Cleaning Institute (ACI).  As reported in our June 8, 2018, blog item, the Disclosure Program requires manufacturers of cleaning products sold in New York to disclose chemical ingredients and identify...

The cost of generating health and safety studies is considerable and data owners have every right to expect some protection from disclosure to preserve the value of their intellectual property.  This is no longer guaranteed as Lynn L. Bergeson, Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., and Kathleen M. Roberts wrote in a two-part article in Bloomberg Environment Insights. The authors propose that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) practice of...

By Lynn L. Bergeson The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently published a report titled The State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which is the first ever of its kind and focuses on farmed aquatic species and their wild relatives within national jurisdictions. The report builds the information and knowledge base required for action at the national, regional, and international levels sustainably to conserve, use, and develop...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On August 27, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced via the Federal Register, proposed revisions to its pesticide tolerance crop grouping regulations. These regulations allow the establishment of tolerances for multiple related crops based on data from a representative set of crops. EPA is proposing the revision of one commodity definition and the addition of three new commodity definitions. In addition, EPA’s proposal includes an amendment to...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On August 23, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released annual market reports on data and trends in wind technologies, costs, installations, prices, and performance through 2018. The reports cover three sectors: offshore, distributed wind, and utility-scale land-based. According to Under Secretary of Energy, Mark W. Menezes, onshore wind installations continue to proliferate across the United States. Demonstrating support for the Trump Administration, Menezes stated...

On August 28, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) web resource for the Series 810 – Product Performance Test Guidelines: Antimicrobial Efficacy Test Guidelines.  As of August 28, 2019, efficacy testing should be in compliance with the following Product Performance Test Guidelines published by EPA in February 2018: The guidelines provide recommendations for the design and execution of laboratory studies to...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 22, 2019, the appointment of Dennis Deziel as Regional Administrator for Region 1.  Mr. Deziel will oversee environmental protection efforts in the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut and in ten Tribal Nations.  According to EPA, Mr. Deziel has spent much of his life working in public service in Washington, D.C.  He most recently worked at Dow as the...

On August 26, 2019, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) announced that the results of an NIEHS-funded study show that graphene could provide alternatives to chemicals in insect repellant and protective clothing.  The study, “Mosquito Bite Prevention through Graphene Barrier Layers,” was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  According to the abstract, the researchers hypothesized that graphene films may provide mosquito bite...

On August 27, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that makes several changes to the current “Crop Group 19:  Herbs and Spices Group.”  This latest proposal, which is the fifth in a series of crop group amendments, was created in response to a petition developed by the International Crop Group Consulting Committee (ICGCC) workgroup that was submitted by the Interregional Research Project Number 4...