Blogs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on December 20, 2024, that the United States prevailed in its dispute under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) challenging certain Mexican biotechnology measures concerning genetically engineered (GE) corn. Under a February 2023 presidential decree, Mexico banned immediately the use of GE corn in dough and tortillas and instructed government agencies to eliminate gradually the use of GE corn for other food uses and in animal...

The opening hours of the 119th Congress provided an interesting look at the two bodies of Congress, the United States House of Representatives (House) and the United States Senate (Senate), and offered a glimpse of what to expect from the leaders of those bodies during the next two years. While Republicans control the House and the Senate, their slim majorities will present challenges in legislating during the 119th Congress. In the House, it will take only a handful of Republican defections to...

The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology announced on December 18, 2024, that the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act includes “a suite of recommendations designed to galvanize action on biotechnology” for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). According to the Commission, the bill includes new authorities and requirements -- derived from its May 2024 proposals -- that will position DOD and the intelligence community (IC) to maximize the benefits of...

On December 27, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released for comment a proposed plan to track the adoption of bilingual labeling of pesticide products. 90 Fed. Reg. 99. The Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5) amended the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to require Spanish language translation of the health and safety sections of end-use pesticide product labels on a rolling schedule that begins in December 2025 and ends in...

On December 31, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of and solicited comment on the preliminary lists of manufacturers (including importers) subject to fees for the next five chemicals undergoing risk evaluation under Section 6(b) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 89 Fed. Reg. 107099. The five chemicals that have been designated as High-Priority Substances (HPS) for risk evaluation and for which fees will be charged are acetaldehyde (Chemical...

On December 19, 2024, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced the availability of the Federal Sustainable Chemistry Strategic Plan (Strategic Plan). As reported in our January 19, 2021, memorandum, Subtitle E of TII of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA for FY2021) includes the text of the bipartisan Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2019. Subtitle E establishes an interagency working group led by OSTP to...

As reported in our December 5, 2024, blog item, on December 4, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that it acknowledges the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California’s December 2, 2024, ruling prospectively vacating USDA’s May 2020 final rule for organisms developed using genetic engineering. National Family Farm Coalition, et al. v. Vilsack (No. 3:21-cv-05695-JD). As reported in our May 18, 2020,...

On December 26, 2024, the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed notice in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that they are appealing the court’s December 11, 2024, decision dismissing their suit to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. As reported in our December 17, 2024, blog item, the court dismissed a suit filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking a rule...

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on December 16, 2024, its intent to fund research and development (R&D) projects in two priority areas, sustainable propane and renewable chemicals, and algal system cultivation and preprocessing: Sustainable Propane and Renewable Chemicals (SPARC) Funding Opportunity: According to BETO, producing chemicals and propane/liquid petroleum gas (LPG) from domestic renewable feedstock resources could help...

On December 18, 2024, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) announced the availability of the National Nanotechnology Initiative Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Strategy: 2024 Update. Prepared by the Nanotechnology Environmental and Health Implications (NEHI) Working Group within the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council, the 2024 update builds on the initial 2011 strategy, laying out a comprehensive,...