By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. USDA Deputy Under Secretary Donald LaVoy and DOE Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes announced on October 24, 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the two departments to promote rural energy and the development of technologies to support and advance rural and agricultural communities and domestic manufacturing. Required under Section 6501 of the 2018 Farm Bill, the MOU is meant to improve collaboration and coordination...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announced open meetings of the Biomass Research and Development (R&D) Technical Advisory Committee. The first meeting is scheduled for November 19, 2019, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST), and the second meeting will take place on November 20, 2019, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (EST) in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the committee is to advise the Secretaries...
On October 29, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a Federal Register notice announcing the availability of the draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation for methylene chloride (MC). 84 Fed. Reg. 57866. As reported in our October 26, 2019, blog item, EPA is submitting the same document to the TSCA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) for peer review. SACC will convene an in-person public meeting to consider and...
October 30, 2019
EPA Proposes Rule to Update the Worker Protection Standard Pesticide Application Exclusion Zone Requirements
On October 24, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is proposing narrow updates to the Worker Protection Standard’s (WPS) provision on the Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) requirements. By narrowing updates to the WPS, EPA states that it will “improve the long-term success of the agency’s Application Exclusion Zone requirements” and “would improve enforceability for state regulators and reduce regulatory burdens for farmers.” EPA believes...
On October 30, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that in response to an April 2019 court decision on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Requirements Final Rule, EPA will publish a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking that includes two additional questions about “reverse engineering” that manufacturers and processors would be required to answer when making confidential business information (CBI)...
October 30, 2019
Agenda and Abstracts Available from 2019 Global Summit on Regulatory Science on Nanotechnology and Nanoplastics
On September 24 – 26, 2019, the European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) hosted the 2019 Global Summit on Regulatory Science (GSRS19), which focused on nanotechnology and nanoplastics. Co-organized with the Global Coalition for Regulatory Science Research, GSRS19 covered nanotechnology research and its role in enhancing regulatory decision making, including methods, standards, and applications. In addition, GSRS19 also introduced methods and approaches to...
Registration has begun for the National Nanotechnology Initiative’s (NNI) November 12, 2019, webinar, “Global Harmonization of Nanoinformatics: A Case Study in Convergence and Team Science.” The webinar, part of NNI’s 2019 series on the environmental, health, and safety effects of nanomaterials (nanoEHS), “will share how engaged and collaborative communities in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere have provided an infrastructure capable of supporting sustainable design of...
October 26, 2019
Draft Risk Evaluation of Methylene Chloride Will Be Published on October 29; SACC Will Review It in December
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will publish a Federal Register notice on October 29, 2019, announcing the availability of and soliciting public comment on the draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation of methylene chloride (MC). EPA states that it is also submitting the same document to the TSCA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) for peer review and that SACC will hold an in-person public meeting to consider and review the draft risk evaluation...
October 26, 2019
Draft Risk Evaluation of Methylene Chloride Will Be Published on October 29; SACC Will Review It in December
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will publish a Federal Register notice on October 29, 2019, announcing the availability of and soliciting public comment on the draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation of methylene chloride (MC). EPA states that it is also submitting the same document to the TSCA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) for peer review and that SACC will hold an in-person public meeting to consider and review the draft...
October 25, 2019
ISO Standard Specifies Characteristics and Measurement Methods for Layered Clay Nanomaterials
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standard ISO/TS 21236-1:2019, “Nanotechnologies — Clay nanomaterials — Part 1: Specification of characteristics and measurement methods for layered clay nanomaterials.” The standard specifies characteristics to be measured of layered clay nanomaterials in powder form and chemically modified ones and describes their relevant measurement methods. According to the standard abstract, there are...