Blogs

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced that in a paper published May 7, 2015, online ahead of print in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, “NIOSH authors Vladimir Murashov and John Howard highlight occupational risk mitigation practices for nano-enabled medical products throughout their life cycle for major health care workplace settings.”  The manuscript highlights occupational risk mitigation practices for nano-enabled medical...

On May 31, 2016, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) began a public consultation on a harmonized classification and labeling (CLH) proposal submitted by France for titanium dioxide.  The proposed entry in Annex VI of the Classification, Labeling, and Packaging (CLP) Regulation is “Carc. 1B, H350i.”  The CLH report states:  “Based on available evidence and information in the registration dossier (e.g. mechanism of carcinogenicity, characterization of the particles), the proposed...

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is sponsoring a July 7-8, 2015, workshop, co-sponsored by the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), entitled “Quantifying Exposure to Engineered Nanomaterials from Manufactured Products — Addressing Environmental, Health, and Safety Implications.” This is a technical workshop to determine the state of the science and the tools and methods available to characterize and quantify exposure to engineered nanomaterials from consumer products....

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Proposal to Mitigate Exposure to Bees from Acutely Toxic Pesticide Products published in the Federal Register on May 29, 2015, seeks comment on a proposal to adopt mandatory pesticide label restrictions to protect managed bees under contract pollination services from foliar application of pesticides that are acutely toxic to bees on a contact exposure basis, unless the application is made in accordance with a government-declared public...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed the volume requirements and associated percentage standards that would apply under the RFS program in calendar years 2014, 2015, and 2016 for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel.  We will include a complete analysis of the EPA proposal and its impact in the June 4, 2015, Biobased and Renewable Products Update....

On May 20, 2015, the European Parliament voted to reject a plan that would eliminate the requirement for import licenses of ethanol of agricultural origin. The plan was rejected with a vote of 486 to 164 amid concerns that the loss of ethanol import data that came from the licenses would negatively impact anti-dumping duty cases. The anti-dumping duties were implemented in February 2013, and are valid through February 2018. The duties require $83.03 per...

On May 20, 2015, the House voted to pass the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015 (H.R. 1806) (COMPETES), a research funding bill that was originally enacted in 2007 to further U.S. scientific and technological advantages. The new version of COMPETES increases funding for nuclear energy and fossil fuel research programs, while cutting clean and renewable energy programs. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will have funding reduced...

On May 19-20, 2015, the NanoBusiness Commercialization Association (NanoBCA) held its 2015 DC Roundtable.  The National Economic Council (NEC) and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) invited participants to attend a May 20, 2015, White House Forum on Small Business Challenges to Commercializing Nanotechnology.  During the forum, participants discussed small business challenges to commercializing nanotechnology, with an emphasis on how private-sector led collaborations...

On May 18, 2015, the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) issued a white paper arguing that "Co-location Requirements under the RFS Impede Advanced Biofuels Development." The paper was sent to EPA. It requests that EPA clarify its definition of feedstock material under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) so that biofuels producers that pre-process their feedstocks away from final refineries are no longer prohibited from generating renewable identification numbers (RIN)...

On May 14, 2015, Bank of America (BoA) announced that it has issued a $600 million bond to fund renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. This is the second time that BoA has offered green energy bonds. In 2013, BoA issued $500 million in green bonds after pledging to commit $50 billion over ten years to advance renewable energy and promote energy efficiency projects. The new $600 million bond will advance low-carbon solutions by lending,...

The 19th Annual ACS Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference is the longest running green chemistry conference in the United States, inviting scientists, business decision-makers, students, and advocates to come together, compare findings, and discuss the science of the future. Keynote speakers include Angela Belcher, Ph.D., W.M. Keck Professor of Energy, MIT; U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE); Frances Arnold, Ph.D., Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering, CalTech; and Deborah Mielewski,...

Part 3 of Biofuels Digest's "Thought Leadership" series highlighting some of the ways the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) applies to biobased products was published May 18, 2015. Summaries of the first two "TSCA and the Bioeconomy" articles, written by Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®) Senior Policy Advisor and former head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Green Chemistry program, Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., were summarized...

On May 11, 2015, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) introduced S. 1282 — a bill to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the Secretary of Energy to consider the objective of improving the conversion, use, and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced from fossil fuels in carrying out research and development (R&D) programs under that Act. The bill represents a broad recognition of the importance of algae and other...

On May 19, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it issued a conditional registration for a nanosilver-containing antimicrobial pesticide product named “NSPW-L30SS,” or “Nanosilva.”  This is the second nanosilver registration issued by EPA and reflects the Agency’s growing expertise in addressing, processing, and approving nanopesticide registration applications.  According to EPA, the product will be used as a non-food-contact preservative to protect...

On May 19, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it issued a conditional registration for a nanosilver-containing antimicrobial pesticide product named “NSPW-L30SS,” or “Nanosilva.”  This is the second nanosilver registration issued by EPA and reflects the Agency’s growing expertise in addressing, processing, and approving nanopesticide registration applications.  According to EPA, the product will be used as a non-food-contact preservative to protect...

On May 19 2015, President Obama’s interagency Pollinator Health Task Force — co-chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — issued its long awaited and anticipated “National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators,” as well as its “Pollinator Research Action Plan.”  This work was done in response to President Obama’s June 20, 2014, memorandum...

On May 8, 2015, in El Comite Para El Bienestar De Earlimart v. EPA, a Panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a petition for review filed by several groups that the court describes as “community organizations” who challenged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2012 approval of California State Implementation Plan (SIP) elements under the Clean Air Act (CAA), including its related approval of certain fumigant regulations.  This challenge was...

2015 BIO Rosalind Franklin Award Recipient Announced On May 8, 2015, BIO announced that Dr. Jennifer Holgrem, CEO of LanzaTech, will receive the 2015 BIO Rosalind Franklin Award, honoring an outstanding woman in the field of industrial biotechnology. Dr. Holgrem has led LanzaTech to develop the first alternative jet fuel made from industrial waste gases and has defined the genetic blueprint of gas fermenting organisms and demonstrated that they can be engineered to produce novel,...

In a May 8, 2015, letter, Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) requested that EPA reconsider its decision to treat biomass as having zero emissions under the proposed Clean Power Plan (Plan). The Senators point out "wood-burning power plants emit around 3,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour," and would not assist in achieving the carbon reductions intended by the Plan. The letter also states: "The EPA should not approve biomass combustion as...

The White House is reviewing EPA's proposed rules to set the 2014, 2015, and 2016 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requirements. The proposals are not currently publicly available, but EPA has committed to propose them by June 1, 2015, and to promulgate the 2014 and 2015 rules by November 30, 2015. EPA is required by law to issue the following year's RFS requirements by November 30 of the previous year. The interagency review of the RFS...