Blogs

Cherokee Concerned Citizens watchers will be interested to know that on June 6, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed an unopposed motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to extend the deadlines in Cherokee Concerned Citizens v. EPA, (No. 23-1096). As reported in our April 17, 2023, blog item, Cherokee Concerned Citizens filed suit in April 2023 seeking review of an Order for a New Chemical Substance...

Please note that the date of this webinar has moved forward one day, from Wednesday, June 12, 2024, to Thursday, June 13, 2024, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (EDT). Register now to join Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and The Acta Group (Acta®) for “Sponsor’s Role in Regulatory Testing — Complying with GLP Standards,” a complimentary webinar covering the roles and responsibilities of Study Sponsors, as defined by Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) regulations and related...

On May 28, 2024, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) publicly released a report entitled Priority Open Recommendations: Environmental Protection Agency. According to the report, since GAO’s May 2023 letter, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implemented four of GAO’s 15 open priority recommendations, including three recommendations related to assessing and controlling toxic chemicals: GAO’s report states that in April 2023, it issued its biennial update to its...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) continues to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC). NIOSH highlights NTRC activities in the risk assessment of engineered nanomaterials in a June 3, 2024, NIOSH Science blog item entitled “NIOSH Risk Assessment of Engineered Nanomaterials.” The item notes that NTRC risk assessments were used in developing NIOSH recommended exposure limits (REL) for three different classes of nanomaterials...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on May 30, 2024, that it recently reviewed the following plants modified using genetic engineering to determine whether they pose an increased plant pest risk relative to non-modified comparators: APHIS states that it found that “these modified plants were unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to other cultivated plants.” As a result, they are not subject to regulation...

Please note that the date of this webinar has moved forward one day, from Wednesday, June 12, 2024, to Thursday, June 13, 2024, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (EDT). Register now to join Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and The Acta Group (Acta®) for “Sponsor’s Role in Regulatory Testing — Complying with GLP Standards,” a complimentary webinar covering the roles and responsibilities of Study Sponsors, as defined by Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) regulations and related advisory...

On May 23, 2024, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB) issued a press release applauding its Congressional Commissioners — Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Todd Young (R-IN) and Representatives Stephanie Bice (R-OK) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) — for introducing the legislative recommendations from its first report. The press release states that recognizing that food security and agricultural supply chains are key elements of national security, NSCEB developed...

On June 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office’s (BETO) Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy Consortium (ChemCatBio) will hold a webinar on artificial intelligence (AI) for catalysis. BETO states that “AI has the potential to play a crucial role in accelerated catalyst design, discovery, and optimization of chemical processes for decarbonization.” Using AI tools such as machine learning, deep learning, and large language models, “researchers can uncover...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a notice of determination on May 31, 2024, that the list of taxable substances is modified to include polyoxymethylene. 89 Fed. Reg. 47238. As reported in our December 29, 2022, blog item, the IRS announced in December 2022 that it received a petition requesting the addition of polyoxymethylene to the list of taxable substances under Section 4672(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. Celanese Ltd., an exporter of polyoxymethylene, submitted...

The European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) began a public consultation on May 27, 2024, on its preliminary opinion on a new coating for titanium dioxide (nano form). According to the preliminary opinion, SCCS concluded that: Comments are due July 22, 2024....

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) announced on May 28, 2024, that it filed a request for correction (RFC) under the Information Quality Act (IQA) regarding a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research memorandum entitled “Verification Analysis for PFAS in Pesticide Products (ACB Project B23-05b)” dated May 18, 2023, and the accompanying press release. As reported in our June 2, 2023, memorandum, EPA completed a verification analysis of a study published in...

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on May 23, 2024, that it released a Summary Report from a September 2023 Request for Information (RFI) on building supply chains to meet Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge goals. The RFI requested input from industry, academia, national laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders to identify opportunities for developing effective supply chains capable of meeting the SAF Grand...

On May 24, 2024, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) issued California Notice 2024-10 announcing that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DPR have made recent policy changes regarding state-specific language on pesticide labels intended to reduce delays related to state-specific uses. As part of DPR’s evaluation process when reviewing a new registration application, DPR may determine there are not sufficient data to support registration of a specific use in...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on May 23, 2024, that it has updated the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory. EPA states that this biannual update to the public TSCA Inventory is part of its regular posting of non-confidential TSCA Inventory data. EPA notes that this update coincides with the 2024 Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) cycle submission period beginning June 1, 2024. According to EPA, “[m]anufacturers (including importers) should refer to the latest...

On May 23, 2024, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published a document entitled “Scientific Advice on Titanium dioxide (TiO2).” The document includes the following questions from the EC and SCCS’s conclusions: Q: In light of the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) opinion on genotoxicity concerns for E171, does SCCS consider titanium dioxide safe in oral cosmetic products? A: From the provided information, SCCS notes that the titanium...

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on May 22, 2024, that it awarded $2.18 million in funding to four additional projects as part of the Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium (FCIC) 2023 Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) call. BETO states that the FCIC, funded and led by BETO, is a consortium of researchers at nine national laboratories dedicated to reducing the technical risks of biorefinery scale-up. BETO notes that...

On April 16, 2024, Governor Janet Mills (D) signed LD 1537, amending An Act To Stop Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Pollution. On May 20, 2024, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) updated its “PFAS in Products” web page to reflect the amendments, which include eliminating the general notification requirement that was scheduled to take effect January 1, 2025. The legislation also creates new sales prohibitions for products with intentionally added per- and...

On May 20, 2024, the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) announced that on May 17, 2024, they filed a notice of intent to sue (NOI) the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “to stop the manufacture and distribution of hundreds of millions of plastic containers with dangerous levels of a carcinogenic per-and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).” Filed with the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), the NOI states that EPA “has...

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on May 7, 2024, the release of the “Progression of Net-Zero Emission Propulsion Technologies for the Off-Road Sector Request for Information” (RFI). Jointly released with DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) and Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), the purpose of the RFI is to understand the off-road sector alternative propulsion technology preferences, technologies that seem most...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule on May 17, 2024, to update the list of chemicals subject to Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting to include seven additional per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for Reporting Year 2024(reporting forms due by July 1, 2025). 89 Fed. Reg. 43331. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes a provision that automatically adds PFAS to the TRI list upon EPA’s adoption of...