Blogs

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 11, 2018, the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) announced €115 million in funding for the 2018 Call for proposals focusing on feedstock, process, products, and market uptake. BBI JU is a partnership between the European Union (EU) and the Bio-based Industries Consortium that was launched to develop strong European bio-based industries.  This call includes 21 topics with 11 Research and Innovation Action (RIA) topics, 3 Coordination and...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 18, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the release of the Co-Optima FY2017 Year in Review.  The Co-Optima initiative is accelerating the introduction of efficient, clean, affordable, and scalable high-performance fuels by bringing together DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE), national laboratories, universities, and industry and government stakeholders to collaborate on improvements to biofuels and the...

On April 4, 2018, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that it has launched a public consultation on its draft Strategic Plan for 2019-2023.  ECHA states that by 2023, it “aims to become the main source of scientific knowledge and technical know-how on chemicals, serving a wide range of [European Union (EU)] policies and stakeholders.”  The draft Strategic Plan lists three strategic priorities that are to be achieved with a set of enabling...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 13, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced an upcoming webinar entitled “Bioproducts, Grown and Made in America”  that will focus on American-produced bioproducts made from renewable sources including plants, algae, and wastes.  Speakers from BETO, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories will discuss how the biobased...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), and Health Canada (HC) have released an educational primer on U.S. and Canadian regulations regarding chemical substances.  EPA states that the purpose of the primer is to compile easy-to-use information for stakeholders potentially regulated under similar U.S. and Canadian regulations — Significant New Use Rules (SNUR) in the U.S. and Significant New Activity (SNAc) provisions in Canada.  EPA,...

On April 10, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of a draft Science Policy document intended to reduce the use of animals in testing chemicals to evaluate whether they cause an allergic reaction, inflammation, or sensitization of the skin.  According to EPA, the document, Draft Interim Science Policy:  Use of Alternative Approaches for Skin Sensitization as a Replacement for Laboratory Animal Testing, “describes the science...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) April 2018 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Substance Inventory is now available.  For the first time, the Inventory includes a field designating substances that are “active” in U.S. commerce based on the following: EPA states that it “carefully processed and conducted a quality check of the data to ensure duplicate entries and confidential business information were removed” from the large number of notices...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 6, 2018, a coalition of biofuel producers wrote to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) urging them to reach out to President Trump to protect the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. EPA, under the direction of Administrator Scott Pruitt, recently provided a large oil refining company, Andeavor, with a hardship waiver. These waivers are typically given to small refineries producing less than 75,000 barrels per day that...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 4, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a funding opportunity for 2018 through Binational Industrial Research & Development (BIRD) Energy, a joint U.S.-Israel industrial research and development (R&D) program for renewable and energy efficiency technologies. To qualify for BIRD energy funding, a project must include: R&D cooperation between two companies or cooperation between a company and a university/research institution (one from...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 11, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the third Safer Choice Partner & Stakeholder Summit 2018 in a Federal Register notice. The Summit is open to all Safer Choice program partners and stakeholders, and will include informational and breakout sessions, with a focus on dialogue and problem-solving. The event is being held on May 14, 2018, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EDT) in Oxon Hill, MD. Registration...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 3, 2018, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) announced that companies from Argentina and Indonesia will face new anti-dumping duties after findings by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) that imports of biodiesel at less than fair value materially injured the U.S. biodiesel industry. Commerce determined that the Argentinian and Indonesian imports were sold in the U.S. at dumping margins of up to 86.41 percent and 276.65 percent,...

By Lynn L. Bergeson Representative Scott Peters (D-CA) recently introduced the Algae Agriculture Act of 2018 (H.R. 5373) to the House of Representatives. The bill, sponsored by Representatives Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), and Darin LaHood (R-IL), would provide similar advantages to algae cultivators and harvesters as those that exist for traditional crop farmers under U.S. agricultural policy. These advantages include: updating the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA)...

Effective April 15, 2018, Chuck Geraci, Ph.D., CIH, will be the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Associate Director for Emerging Technologies.  As Associate Director for Emerging Technologies, Dr. Geraci will be responsible for the planning, direction, and execution of emerging technology research activities at NIOSH, advising the NIOSH Director.  Emerging technologies with potential to impact the U.S. workplace include the evolution of advanced and...

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a new report on April 11, 2018, that finds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program has made “substantial progress” in implementing recommendations outlined by the National Academies in previous reports.  According to the April 11, 2018, press release, the transformation of IRIS began several years ago, after the release of a 2011 National...

In April 2018, the International Standardization Organization (ISO) published standard ISO 19007:2018, “Nanotechnologies — In vitro MTS assay for measuring the cytotoxic effect of nanoparticles.”  The standard specifies a method for evaluating the effects of nano-objects and their aggregates and agglomerates on cellular viability using the MTS assay.  The assay design includes performance requirements and control experiments to identify and manage variability in the...

On April 10, 2018, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) held a complimentary webinar, “FIFRA Hot Topics.”  Co-hosted with Bloomberg BNA, the webinar featured Richard P. Keigwin, Jr., Director, Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Daniella Taveau, former International Trade Negotiator for EPA and now Regulatory and Global Trade Strategist, King & Spalding; and William L. Jordan,...

On March 22, 2018, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt appointed 11 additional members to the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals.  Under the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the purpose of the Committee is to provide independent advice and expert consultation, at the request of the EPA Administrator, with respect to the scientific and technical aspects of risk assessments, methodologies, and pollution prevention...

The May 13-16, 2018, TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo will include a panel discussion on “Safety in Advanced Manufacturing: A Profit Maker or a Profit Taker?” as part of the advanced manufacturing symposium.  The panel discussion, which will be held on May 16, 2018, will provide a forum to examine existing health and safety approaches that enable Industry 4.0 and the advanced manufacturing ecosystem.  It will consider the challenges and...

By Lynn L. Bergeson ASTM International’s energizing fuels division recently passed an Alcohol To Jet (ATJ) ethanol based specification ballot measure that will allow jet fuel, produced from ethanol under the ATJ process, to be sold commercially on a global basis.  ASTM D7566 had previously permitted ethanol as a feedstock for Aviation Turbine Fuel with a maximum final fuel blend of 50 percent, but now permits a full replacement of the hydrocarbon fuel. This change opens...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 28, 2018, Bioenergy Australia and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) released “Biofuels to bioproducts: A growth industry for Australia.” The paper calls for the implementation of a Five-Point Plan creating a bioenergy policy framework to spur growth in Ausralia’s bioeconomy.  The paper also argues that the current lack of policy and programs encouraging the bioenergy industry have hurt Australia as it has missed out on...