May 12, 2017

Senate Finance Committee Introduces Clean Energy For America Act

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On May 5, 2017, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced to the Senate Finance Committee legislation focused on reducing carbon pollution over the next decade by incentivizing clean energy and promoting new technologies in the private sector.  The Clean Energy for America Act, which was co-sponsored by 21 Democratic Senators, provides a simplified set of long-term, performance-based energy tax incentives to promote clean energy production and storage.  The...
May 11, 2017

NanoImpact Publishes Special Issue Based on Eighth International Congress of Nanotoxicology

NanoImpact has published a special issue based on work presented at the Eighth International Congress of Nanotoxicology, which was held June 2-4, 2016, in Boston, Massachusetts.  The theme was “A Decade of Nanotoxicology:  Impact on Human Health and the Environment.”  The Editorial by the associate guest editors, Dhimiter Bello and David T. Leong, states that the special issue brings together a collection of 12 original research papers and three review...
May 10, 2017

EPA Will Delay Effective Date of TSCA Section 8(a) Rule Concerning Nanoscale Materials

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to publish on May 12, 2017, a Federal Register notice delaying the effective date of the January 12, 2017, rule concerning Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a) reporting requirements from May 12, 2017, to August 14, 2017.  EPA notes that Section 553(b)(1)(B) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) allows EPA to take action without providing an opportunity for notice or comment when it for...
May 9, 2017

EPA Reopens Comment Period on Standards for Small Manufacturers and Processors for TSCA Reporting for Review of SBA Consultation Documents

On May 9, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register a notice stating that it was reopening the comment period regarding whether revision to the current size standards for small manufacturers and processors, which are used in connection with reporting regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a), is warranted.  82 Fed. Reg. 21542.  EPA is opening the comment period for another 15 days, until May 24,...
May 8, 2017

JRC Publishes NANoREG Framework for the Safety Assessment of Nanomaterials

The European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) has published a Science for Policy report entitled NANoREG framework for the safety assessment of nanomaterials.  The report was developed within the NANoREG project, “A common European approach to the regulatory testing of nanomaterials.”  The NANoREG framework represents the project’s proposal for a common understanding in the field of environmental health and safety (EHS) assessment of nanomaterials under the...
May 5, 2017

ACS Publishes Study Finding that Nanoparticles Can Travel from Lungs to Blood, Possibly Explaining Risks to Heart

The American Chemical Society (ACS) announced on May 3, 2017, publication of an article entitled “Inhaled Nanoparticles Accumulate at Sites of Vascular Disease” in ACS Nano.  According to ACS, scientists have found evidence in human and animal studies that inhaled nanoparticles can travel from the lungs into the bloodstream, potentially explaining the link between air pollution and cardiovascular disease.  ACS states in its press release that in the study, 14 healthy...
May 5, 2017

Congressional Democrats Request Inquiry into EPA’s Chlorpyrifos Decision

On April 27, 2017, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) sent a letter to Inspector General Arthur Elkins, Jr. at the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting the OIG to conduct an investigation into EPA’s March 29, 2017, order denying the September 2007 petition of the Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) requesting that EPA revoke all...
May 5, 2017

Biobased and Renewable Chemicals Conference, May 10-11, 2017, In Wilmington, Delaware

The 2017 Biobased and Renewable Chemicals Conference, organized by the Delaware Sustainable Chemistry Alliance (DESCA) and supported by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Green Chemistry Institute, is a two-day event that will focus on the emerging landscape of technologies that are replacing fossil fuel-based raw materials and the major challenges and opportunities facing the industry.  The event features interactive panel discussions, keynote speakers, workshops, and networking...
May 5, 2017

RFA Sends Letter To EPA On RVO Rulemaking

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 24, 2017, Bob Dineen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) sent a letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt requesting that the 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) rulemaking remain on schedule and maintain the conventional renewable fuel requirement at the statutory level of 15 billion gallons.  According to the letter, regulatory certainty and sufficient lead time for planning are required to allow...
May 5, 2017

USDA Seeks Comment On Revision To Information Collection For The Advanced Biofuel Payment Program

By Kathleen M. Roberts On April 25, 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Business-Cooperative Service published in the Federal Register a notice that it is requesting approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of a revision to a currently approved information collection for the Advanced Biofuel Payment Program, which provides funding to eligible advanced biofuel producers to support the production of biofuel products.  The Rural Business-Cooperative...
May 5, 2017

DOE Workshop On Biobased Functional Replacement Chemicals

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is hosting a Workshop on Moving Beyond Drop-In Replacements:  Performance Advantaged Bio-Based Chemicals on June 1, 2017, in Denver, Colorado.  The purpose of the workshop is to solicit stakeholder feedback on what research and development is necessary for writing a functional replacements and novel biobased compounds strategic plan.  The discussion, which will be...
May 5, 2017

Bipartisan Bill Introduced To Reform The Biodiesel Tax Credit

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 26, 2017, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate to reform the biodiesel tax credit and extend the new policy for three years.  The American Renewable Fuel and Job Creation Act of 2017, which was sponsored by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and 14 other senators, transfers the $1 gallon tax credit from the blenders to the producers of biofuels to ensure that it...
May 5, 2017

Judges Hear Oral Arguments On The Petition To Review RVO For 2014-2016

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 24, 2017, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys representing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the renewable fuels and petroleum industries presented oral arguments before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit regarding the petition to review the renewable volume obligations (RVO) for 2014-2016.  The petition, which was filed on January 8, 2016, by seven biofuel and agricultural groups, challenged...
May 4, 2017

NanoMONITOR Begins Survey to Refine Design of Real-Time Information and Monitoring System

NanoMONITOR announced on May 3, 2017, the launch of a survey intended to refine the design of the real-time information and monitoring system to support the risk assessment of nanomaterials under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation.  NanoMONITOR states that the ten-minute survey will help it:...
May 3, 2017

Lynn L. Bergeson Will Speak at 16th Annual NanoBusiness Commercialization Association Conference

The NanoBusiness Commercialization Association (NanoBCA) will hold its 16th annual conference on June 15, 2017, in Washington, D.C.  Speakers will include Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Director, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C., as well as: Registration is available online....
May 3, 2017

Implementation of Alternative Testing Strategies under Amended TSCA

The amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has ushered in new developments in testing strategies.  In March 2017, Andre E. Nel, Ph.D. (Division of NanoMedicine, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California (UCLA); California NanoSystems Institute, UCLA (CNSI)) and Timothy F. Malloy (CNSI; UCLA School of Law; UCLA Center on Environmental and Occupational Health) published Policy reforms to update chemical safety...
May 3, 2017

FY 2017 Budget Agreement Leaves EPA Budget Largely Intact

Facing a government shutdown, late on April 30, 2017, lawmakers reached agreement on a spending bill that funds the federal government through September 2017, which is the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2017.  President Trump’s budget blueprint sought to slash EPA’s coffers by some 31 percent (and more if certain programs were eliminated from the base).  The deal reached by lawmakers, however, would essentially fund EPA at its current levels and retain current staff...
May 2, 2017

EPA To Host Public Meeting on Negotiated Rulemaking Process

On May 2, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would convene a public meeting to clarify and discuss the process of negotiated rulemaking on changes to Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) requirements for inorganic byproducts.  The meeting will be held on May 9, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EDT) and on May 10, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (EDT), in Washington, D.C. at the Capital Hilton, 1001 16th Street, N.W,...
May 2, 2017

EPA TechDirect Reports Availability of NanoRem Toolbox

The May 1, 2017, issue of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) TechDirect includes an item on the availability of the Taking Nanotechnological Remediation Processes from Lab Scale to End User Applications for the Restoration of a Clean Environment (NanoRem) Toolbox.  NanoRem is a research project funded through the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Program for Research and Technological Development.  EPA describes the NanoRem Toolbox as the...
May 1, 2017

EPA Extends Comment Date for Proposed Rules Banning Certain Uses of TCE, NMP, and Methylene Chloride

On May 1, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice in the Federal Register stating it was reopening and extending the comment period for two proposed rules:  (1) to prohibit the use of trichloroethylene (TCE) in vapor degreasing; to require manufacturers (including importers), processors, and distributors, except for retailers, of TCE for any use to provide downstream notification of these prohibitions throughout the supply chain; and to require limited...