Blogs

On September 2, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released additional guidance on its implementation of the new Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in the form of additional questions and answers (Q&A).  EPA added a series of Q&As of particular relevance given the fast-approaching TSCA Section 6(h) deadline of September 19, 2016, for industry to request a risk evaluation for persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals listed in the 2014 TSCA...

The threat of the Zika Virus grows every day, and the need for clear information is especially pressing if you are pregnant.  How do you prevent getting infected with the Zika Virus, and what insect repellents are best?  The first question is easy to answer:  public health experts agree that women who are pregnant or who might be pregnant should use insect repellents.  The answer to the second question is not so simple. I am...

The 2016 Global Summit on Regulatory Science (GSRS) will be held September 7-9, 2016, in Bethesda, Maryland.  Each GSRS meeting focuses on an area of regulatory science that would benefit from discussions aimed at identifying future research directions, and this GSRS meeting will focus on nanotechnology standards and applications, building on an October 11, 2015, GSRS workshop.  The 2015 workshop focused on physico-chemical measurements and standards relevant to...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted guidance regarding changes to the requirements for making confidential business information (CBI) claims under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), as amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.  The “key changes” that EPA notes are: New Certification Requirement.  Pursuant to TSCA § 14(c), a submitter of information claimed as CBI must now certify agreement with several...

On August 25, 2016, researchers at the University of Michigan, led by research professor John M. DeCicco, Ph.D., published "Carbon balance effects of U.S. biofuel production and use," a study examining the impact of biofuel production on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The study, funded in part by the American Petroleum Institute, examined USDA crop-production data and determined that the increasing use of biofuels has resulted in a net increase of CO2 emissions, with only 37...

On August 24, 2016, Brazil's government announced that it would not be extending a tax break on ethanol sales that is due to expire in December 2016. During the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, Brazil pledged to increase cane-based ethanol and biodiesel to nearly 18 percent of its total energy mix by 2030, requiring an increase in annual ethanol production from 30 billion liters in 2015/2016 to 50 billion liters in 2030. The loss of the...

On August, 24, 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service released an annual report on the Philippines' biofuel industry and ethanol imports. In January 2007, The Biofuels Act or Republic Act (RA 9367) was signed, creating biofuels legislation in the Philippines that now mandate a ten percent ethanol blend and a two percent biodiesel blend. While the Biofuels Act gives priority to local ethanol, supply issues with local ethanol production have resulted...

The European Commission (EC) has requested a scientific opinion from the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) on colloidal silver (nano). Under the Cosmetics Regulation, any cosmetic product containing a nanomaterial must be notified to the EC six months prior to being placed on the market.  If the EC has concerns about the safety of the nanomaterial, it will refer it to the SCCS for a full risk assessment.  According to the EC, it has received 63...

Monday, September 12, 20168:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time/11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time/16:00 British Summer Time Register Today With passage by unanimous consent voice vote of the U.S. Senate of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act on June 7, 2016, this bill, that profoundly alters the regulation of industrial chemicals in the U.S. under TSCA, has cleared all hurdles and was signed into law by President Obama on June 22, 2016....

On August 26, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of the establishment of a Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) under Section 9(a) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and pursuant to Section 26(o) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), as amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.  The notice also solicits comments and requests nominations for new members of the SACC.  The SACC expects to...

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is funding a new interdisciplinary Nanosafety Research Center at the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).  The main focus of the new HSPH-NIEHS Center is to bring together scientists from across disciplines — material science, chemistry, exposure assessment, risk assessment, nanotoxicology, and nanobiology — to assess the potential environmental health and safety implications of engineered nanomaterials. ...

ASTM International's Committee on Plastics recently approved revisions to standard D6866, Test Methods for Determining the Biobased Content of Solid, Liquid, and Gaseous Samples Using Radiocarbon Analysis. This standard was originally approved in 2004, and is used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) BioPreferred® Program, by EPA when it is determining the sustainability of plastics, and by other corporations using biobased plastics. D6866 is used to determine the percent...

On August 10, 2016, Red Trail Energy, LLC, a North Dakota ethanol producer, announced that it, along with the Energy & Environmental Research Center, had been awarded $490,000 to examine the integration of carbon capture and storage (CCS). The study will consist of installing and operating a commercial CCS system in a facility producing approximately 63 million gallons of ethanol and 180,000 tons of CO2, and tracking the technical and economic parameters required. The total...

On August 18, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report stating that EPA has not complied with federal requirements to study the effects of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The report, "EPA Has Not Met Certain Statutory Requirements to Identify Environmental Impacts of Renewable Fuel Standard," found that while EPA is required to provide a report to Congress every three years on the impact of biofuels, there...

Section 6(h) of new TSCA addresses persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemical substances listed in the 2014 TSCA Work Plan.  For such chemicals, Section 6(h) outlines a procedure requiring “expedited” regulatory action that is intended to reduce exposures to these chemicals to the “extent practicable.”  As written, chemicals subject to Section 6(h) will not undergo a risk evaluation as will other high-priority chemicals.  Instead, EPA will proceed immediately to...

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is developing a web-enabled information and screening tool intended to help small businesses integrating or developing nanoscale materials address uncertainty related to regulatory compliance and environment, health, and occupational safety (EHOS) risks.  To that end, ERDC is conducting a brief survey to identify resources, regulations, and risks that are most important to companies and other organizations involved in product and...

On August 12, 2016, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order denying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) request for an additional six months to decide whether to ban agricultural uses of chlorpyrifos.  The court opted instead to afford EPA a three month extension, stating that “this is the final extension, and the court will not grant any further extensions.”  EPA sought the six month extension on June 29,...

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) requested a review of the already marketed and in-development applications of nanomaterials in the agri/feed/food sectors.  The results of the review are published in the August 2016 issue of Trends in Food Science & Technology in an article entitled “Nanomaterials for products and application in agriculture, feed and food.”  The article highlights include:...

On September 12, 2016, Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner of Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®) affiliate Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®); Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., B&C Senior Chemist; and Kathleen M. Roberts, Vice President of B&C Consortia Management, L.L.C. (BCCM), will present "The New TSCA: Information and Reporting (Sections 8 & 14)" in conjunction with Chemical Watch. This free webinar is the third in Chemical Watch's Toxic...

On August 10, 2016, India's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan spoke at a conference in New Delhi about the future of India's biofuel market. He discussed how a target five percent biodiesel blend and a ten percent ethanol blend in gasoline could increase the biofuels market from 65 billion rupees to 500 billion rupees by 2022. The Indian biofuel industry is currently trying to achieve a five percent biobased blend for both diesel and gasoline, and...