Blogs

On December 11, 2017, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Fourth Circuit) case on the petition for review of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) framework rule Procedures for Chemical Risk Evaluation under TSCA (Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments v. EPA, Case Nos. 17-1926, 17-2040, and 17-2244 (consolidated)), the Fourth Circuit granted the petitioners’ motions to transfer to the Ninth Circuit.  This was not entirely unexpected, as the U.S. Court...

In November 2017, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published standard ISO/TS 20787:2017, “Nanotechnologies — Aquatic toxicity assessment of manufactured nanomaterials in saltwater lakes using Artemia sp. Nauplii.”  ISO/TS 20787:2017 specifies a test method, aiming to maximize repeatability and reliability of testing, to determine whether manufactured nanomaterials are toxic to aquatic organisms, specifically Artemia sp. nauplius.  ISO states that ISO/TS...

On November 23, 2017, the French National Research and Safety Institute for the Prevention of Occupational Accidents and Diseases (INRS) published a report summarizing studies and research completed in 2016 and in progress in 2017.  According to the report, INRS action on manufactured nanomaterials has three objectives:  (1) making knowledge on hazards available to the working world; (2) designing tools for identifying, characterizing, and measuring occupational exposures;...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On December 1, 2017, Neste, a member of BRAG, announced that its Ham Trick (Kinkkutemppu in Finnish) campaign was awarded two prestigious marketing and communications competitions.  The Ham Trick, which is a campaign in which Neste collects and recycles ham waste fat from 100,000 households throughout Finland for manufacturing renewable diesel, won gold at the 2017 European Excellence Awards (EEA) and bronze in the PR category at the Eurobest awards....

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On November 29, 2017, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (Ministry) issued proposed amendments to the Ethanol in Gasoline regulation (O. Reg. 535/05) and the Greener Diesel — Renewable Fuel Content Requirements for Petroleum Diesel Fuel (O. Reg. 97/14) under the Environmental Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.E.19.  Among the proposed changes is an increase from a 5 percent ethanol blending mandate to 10 percent starting in 2020; a...

By Kathleen M. Roberts On November 29, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that a collaboration between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) resulted in the successful modification of a microorganism to produce a versatile fermentation intermediate that can be upgraded into valuable biobased fuels and chemicals.  NREL’s cellulosic ethanol fermentation organism (Zymomonas mobilis), is capable of exclusively...

By Kathleen M. Roberts On November 30, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final 2018 volume requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel.  A pre-publication of the final rule is available now.  The final rule sets the annual percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel for motor vehicle gasoline and...

On December 5, 2017, the Swedish Chemicals Agency (KEMI) announced that it has amended the information requirements for the products register to require notifiers to provide information on nanomaterials contained in chemical products.  The announcement, available in Swedish, states that the requirement will enter into force on January 1, 2018, and the first reports will be due in February 2019.  According to KEMI, the purpose of the new notification...

On December 8, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to publish in the Federal Register a notice that it is withdrawing its direct final rule issued on October 25, 2017, to update the voluntary consensus standards that were originally published in the Toxics Substances Control Act (TSCA) Title VI formaldehyde emission standards for composite wood products final rule on December 12, 2016.  EPA issued both a direct final rule and a proposed rule...

On December 6, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was extending the public comment period to receive information on the five persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals that are subject to Section 6(h) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) which requires EPA to take expedited regulatory action to address risks from certain PBT chemicals.  Comments were initially due on December 9, 2017; they are now due on January 12, 2018.  EPA...

In December 2017, Germany’s Federal Environment Agency (UBA) published a report entitled Clarification of methodical questions regarding the investigation of nanomaterials in the environment:  Development of a decision support tool for the investigation of nanomaterial’s environmental behaviour based on dispersion behaviour and dissolution in relation to various environmental parameters.  UBA states that for an adequate and valid interpretation of data regarding the environmental fate and...

On December 6, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) convened a much anticipated public meeting on implementing changes to the new chemicals review program under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  EPA offered brief prepared remarks and previously solicited questions from stakeholders.  Stakeholders expressed their appreciation to EPA for developing the draft Points to Consider and related documents...

The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) published a brochure entitled “The European Union Observatory for Nanomaterials:  A step forward?” on November 30, 2017.  RIVM concludes that the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) will have a limited contribution to reducing the uncertainty regarding the safety of nanomaterials.  Although several EU Member States, including the Netherlands, supported a mandatory EU-wide registration system for...

On November 30, 2017, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) published a supplement to the President’s 2018 budget.  The supplement also serves as NNI’s annual report and summarizes the progress made in achieving NNI’s goals, the research and development (R&D) activities and plans of the participating agencies, and the agency investments in each program component area.  The President’s 2018 Budget requests $1.2 billion for the NNI, “a...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) announced a collaboration with bio-bean, a clean technology company, that will power London’s buses using a biofuel made partly from waste coffee grounds.  Bio-bean collects waste coffee grounds from high street chains and factories, dries and processes the grounds, and then extracts the coffee oil, which Argent Energy, bio-bean’s fuel partner, processes into a blended B20 biofuel.  The biofuel contains a 20 percent...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On November 22, 2017, Neste, a member of BRAG, announced exclusive partnerships with four California fuel distributors that will provide public and private fleets access to a consistent and high-quality supply of Neste MY Renewable Diesel.  Through the partnerships with IPC (USA), Inc., Ramos Oil Company, Van De Pol Petroleum, and Western States Oil, Neste renewable diesel will be available to customers in Southern California, Northeast California, the...

By Kathleen M. Roberts DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is hosting an Advanced Development and Optimization (ADO) Workshop on December 12-13, 2017, in Golden, Colorado.  At the workshop, BETO intends to discuss how the new ADO program area can best serve stakeholders in developing the bioenergy industry, and to raise awareness of existing assets from past investments and discuss future needs and opportunities for maximizing these assets’ value.  The ADO...

By Kathleen M. Roberts On November 27, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued an announcement for its second funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for fiscal year (FY) 2018.  The Phase I Release 2 FOA will provide funding for innovations that address multiple research and development programs throughout DOE, including the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On November 30, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice in the Federal Register announcing its decision to deny several petitions requesting that EPA initiate a rulemaking to change the point of obligation for compliance under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.  Under the RFS program, refiners and importers of gasoline and diesel fuel are identified as “obligated parties” responsible for compliance with the RFS...

On November 29, 2017, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the nomination of Andrew R. Wheeler, Esquire for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Administrator.  Mr. Wheeler currently works as a Principal at Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting providing guidance on federal regulatory and legislative environmental and energy issues.  He began his environmental policy career at EPA in 1991 when he was Special Assistant to the Information Management Division...