July 3, 2015

California Superior Court Denies PANNA Petition for Writ of Mandate

On June 16, 2015, the California Superior Court for the County of Almeda denied the petition of the Pesticide Action Network North America, et al. (PANNA) for a writ of mandate to direct the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to set aside and vacate its final decisions approving amended registrations of Dinotefuran 20SG manufactured by Mitsui Chemicals Agro and Venom manufactured by Valent USA.  The active ingredient in both products at issue, dinotefuran, is a...
July 2, 2015

EPA Releases Guidance Document:  Antimicrobial Pesticide Use Site Index

On July 01, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice announcing the availability of and requesting public comment on a proposed guidance document called the Antimicrobial Pesticide Use Site Index (USI).  In 2014, EPA issued a final rule amending the regulations setting forth the data requirements that support an application to register a pesticide product.  The final rule contains the data requirements specifically applicable to antimicrobial...
July 2, 2015

Biobased and Green Chemistry Events July 2015

ACS Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, July 14-16, 2015, North Bethesda, Maryland The longest running green chemistry conference in the United States, American Chemical Society Green Chemistry & Engineering (GC&E) Conference invites scientists, decision-makers, students, and advocates to come together, compare findings, and discuss the science of the future. BRAG is a proud sponsor. Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., will present a session on July 16, 2015, regarding how the Toxic...
July 2, 2015

New York Releases Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan

On June 25, 2015, the 2015 New York State Energy Plan was released, outlining a 40 percent reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from 1990 to 2030 and an 80 percent reduction by 2050. The aggressive plan would achieve the reduction in GHG emissions through changes to power, transportation, buildings, and industry with the goal of at least half of the state's electricity coming from renewable sources, including biomass, wind, and solar, by 2030....
July 2, 2015

Master Limited Partnership Parity Act Reintroduced To House And Senate

On June 24, 2015, the Master Limited Partnership Parity Act (S. 1656) was reintroduced in the House and the Senate. The legislation would provide investors in renewable energy projects with tax breaks that are currently available to investors in fossil fuel-based energy projects. A master limited partnership is taxed as a partnership, but ownership interests are traded like corporate stock, thus avoiding the double taxation that can occur with traditional corporate structures when both profits...
July 1, 2015

EPA Releases Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program Tier 1 Assessments

The release of the first Tier 1 assessments in the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 30, 2015, is a significant bench-mark in the program since the original List 1 test orders were initially issued in October 2009.  Fifteen of the original 67 List 1 chemicals were subsequently cancelled or discontinued by the respective pesticide registrants.  The intended purpose of the Tier 1 screening was to identify...
June 26, 2015

EPA Extends Comment Period on Proposed TSCA Section 8(a) Rule for Nanoscale Materials

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended the comment period on its April 6, 2015, proposed rule concerning reporting and recordkeeping requirements for certain chemical substances when they are manufactured or processed at the nanoscale.  Comments will now be due August 5, 2015.  EPA will publish a Federal Register notice announcing the extension during the week of June 29, 2015.  EPA proposes to require persons that manufacture or process these chemical substances to...
June 26, 2015

Canadian Province Finalizes Neonic Reduction Rule

The Canadian province of Ontario has issued its final regulations under the Ontario Pesticides Act aimed at reducing the area planted with maize and soybean seed treated with neonicotinoid insecticides.  These changes have been made as part of its broader strategy to protect pollinators, and aim to reach an 80 percent reduction in the number of hectares planted with neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean seed by 2017.  The new rules create a new class of pesticides, known as...
June 25, 2015

U.S. District Court Affirms FIFRA Arbitration Award

On June 19, 2015, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted a motion for default judgment by the Non-Dietary Exposure Task Force (Task Force) and confirmed an arbitration award against an Indian pesticide manufacturer, Tagros Chemicals India, Ltd. (Tagros) (Non-Dietary Exposure Task Force v. Tagros Chems. India Ltd., 2015 BL 195490, D.D.C., 1:15-cv-00132, 6/19/15).  The Task Force sued Tagros after Tagros refused to sign a $500,000 settlement agreement negotiated...
June 25, 2015

PGCCA Winners Of Yore: Where Are They Now?

With the 20th Annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards (PGCCA) ceremony drawing near, the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group's (BRAG®) Biobased News and Policy Report decided to go back and revisit some early winners to see what has become of the award-winning product or technology. We will be running a new story each week as we approach this year's awards ceremony, occurring July 13, 2015, at 4:00 p.m. (EDT), at the National Academies of...
June 25, 2015

Australia Reaches Agreement To Tax Biodiesel And Ethanol

On June 17, 2015, the Australian government made a bipartisan agreement to tax Australian-produced biodiesel and ethanol. Cleaner fuel grants for renewable and biobased diesel fuels will end by July 1, 2015, as will the Ethanol production grant. An excise rate on biodiesel will be phased in starting in 2015-2016 at zero percent, and will increase annually, eventually reaching 50 percent of the diesel excise rate in 2030-2031. The Biofuels Association of Australia approved of...
June 25, 2015

DOE Announces $55 million To Fund GENSETS And TERRA Programs

On June 18, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $55 million in funding for projects to accelerate biomass development and develop generator technologies under the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The funding will be divided between two of ARPA-E's programs, GENerators for Small Electrical and Thermal Systems (GENSETS) and Transportation Energy Resources from Renewable Agriculture (TERRA). GENSETS will receive $25 million to support 12 projects to improve...
June 25, 2015

USDA Announces Biobased Products Report And Changes To Biobased Programs

On June 17, 2015, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the release of a report to congress that builds on the Why Biobased? report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2014. The new report, An Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry, shows that in 2013, the U.S. biobased industry added $369 billion dollars and four million jobs to the economy. The biobased products industry is comprised of many significant...
June 24, 2015

EPA Announces Plans to Modernize Audit Policy

On June 10, 2015, and June 15, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a webinar entitled “eDisclosure:  EPA’s Plan to Modernize the Implementation of the Audit Policy and the Small Business Compliance Policy.”  During the webinar, EPA set forth its plans to release in fall 2015 a centralized online portal called eDisclosure to allow companies to submit self-disclosures electronically under EPA’s Incentives for Self-Policing: ...
June 23, 2015

EPA Announces Plan for Use of New Methods for Endocrine Disruptor Screening

On June 19, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a plan for incorporating validated high throughput assays and a computational model into the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) to screen chemicals for their ability to interact with the endocrine system.  These proposed new methods would serve as an alternative for three of the eleven current assays in the EDSP Tier 1 screening battery, specifically the estrogen receptor binding (ER), estrogen...
June 22, 2015

SUN Opens Survey on Risk Management of Nanotechnology

On May 26, 2015, Sustainable Nanotechnologies (SUN) began a survey on risk management of nanotechnology. A key objective of SUN is to build the SUN Decision Support System to facilitate safe and sustainable nanomanufacturing and risk management. It will integrate tools for ecological and human health risk assessment, lifecycle assessment, economic assessment, and social impact assessment within a sustainability assessment framework.  SUN seeks responses from personnel of companies involved in...
June 19, 2015

NanoRem Announces Initial Ecotoxicity Results

Taking Nanotechnological Remediation Processes from Lab Scale to End User Applications for the Restoration of a Clean Environment (NanoRem) is a research project funded through the European Commission (EC) FP7. On May 6, 2015, NanoRem issued a press release announcing that no significant toxicological effects were found on soil or water organisms when ecotoxicological tests were undertaken for a range of nanoparticles that could be used for remediation projects: Ecotoxicity testing...
June 19, 2015

EPA Announces Availability for Comment of OCSPP Harmonized Test Guidelines

On June 17, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice announcing the availability for comment of three draft revised 810 series test guidelines developed by the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP).  These test guidelines will provide updated guidance on antimicrobial efficacy testing to the regulated community. EPA states that when these guidelines were published in final in 2012, they drew criticism as confusing and inaccurate.  EPA...
June 19, 2015

District Court Issues Order Allowing Plaintiffs in Case Seeking Review of Neonicotinoid Pesticides under the ESA to Utilize Extra Record Material

On June 12, 2015, Federal District Judge Maxine Chesney issued a decision in Ellis v. Housenger (N.D. Cal.) allowing the plaintiffs to utilize expert declarations and exhibits that were not included in the certified administrative record to support their contentions that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) improperly failed to consult the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The plaintiffs in the Ellis case are...
June 19, 2015

DOE Presents Bioenergy 2015 Next Week In Washington, D.C.

It is not too late to register for Bioenergy 2015, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the Clean Energy Research and Education Foundation (CEREF), and taking place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. on June 23–24, 2015. Speakers include Jonathan Male, Director, BETO; Franklin (Lynn) Orr, Under Secretary for Science and Energy, DOE; Robert M. Simon, Principal Advisor to the Director for Energy,...