On April 23, 2015, a bi-partisan group of 37 Senators led by Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Thune (R-SD), Al Franken (D-MN), and Mark Kirk (R-IL) sent a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy urging a strong final 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The full list of 37 co-signors and text of the letter is available on Senator Grassley's website. The Senators urge EPA to reconsider...
On April 28, 2015, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW Committee) passed by a 15-5 vote a version of S. 697, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. This action by the EPW Committee paves the way for consideration of S. 697 — legislation to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) — by the full U.S. Senate. The authors of S. 697, Senators David...
April 30, 2015
NIOSH Announces Publication of Paper from Industrywide Study on Carbon Nanotube and Nanofiber Exposure
On April 27, 2015, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced publication of “Carbon Nanotube and Nanofiber Exposure Assessments: An Analysis of 14 Site Visits” in Annals of Occupational Hygiene. The paper is the second report from NIOSH’s Industrywide Study. According to NIOSH, the findings illustrate which tasks have the highest exposures, trends in exposure, nature and character of materials involved, effectiveness of controls when used,...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced on April 27, 2015, that it awarded more than $3.8 million in grants “focused on using nanotechnology to find solutions to societal challenges such as food security, nutrition, food safety, and environmental protection.” The grants were made through NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), which is authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. According to USDA’s press...
April 27, 2015
DPR Proposal for Right-to-Know Notifications Prior to Soil Fumigant Applications Could Have Far-Reaching Implications
On April 9, 2015, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) held the first of a planned series of workshops intended to help DPR develop “regulation concepts” for possible notifications prior to field fumigations. The presentations and video from that workshop are now available on DPR’s website. DPR’s presentation at the workshop focused on the background that it believes supports the consideration of a notification requirement, and on current methyl bromide...
April 23, 2015
ECETOC Nano Task Force Proposes Decision-Making Framework for the Grouping and Testing of Nanomaterials
The European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC) Nano Task Force published an article in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology entitled “A decision-making framework for the grouping and testing of nanomaterials (DF4nanoGrouping).” The DF4nanoGrouping consists of three tiers to assign nanomaterials to four main groups, to perform sub-grouping within the main groups, and to determine and refine specific information needs. According to the abstract, the...
? 3LB Media, "Arla Food Eko Brand Organic Milk Now in Tetra Rex® Bio-Based" ? Washington State University, "Researchers Use Plant Oils for Novel Bio-Based Plastics" ? The Hill, "Clinton Meets with Ethanol Representatives" ? The Hill, "Former Obama Advisor Suggests Changes to Ethanol Mandate" ? Business Wire, "NexSteppe Demonstrates Dedicated Biomass Crops at Commercial Scale" ? Phys.Org, "Tobacco Plants May Boost Biofuel and Biorefining...
On April 14, 2015, Members of the European Parliament and certain ministers agreed to limit how biofuels derived from agricultural crops would be accounted for in the European Union's (EU) goal to increase the use of renewable energy. The new law caps the use of first generation biofuels to seven percent of the total energy use being counted towards the EU's renewable energy goal of ten percent. Member States will have the opportunity to reduce...
April 23, 2015
Wood Innovations Grants Provide Funding For Biomass Projects
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, has announced the recipients of the 2015 Wood Innovations Grants. More than 40 projects were awarded over $9 million to expand and accelerate wood energy and wood product markets. The $9 million will leverage private investments from partners, resulting in a total of $31 million distributed to grant winners across 23 different states. The projects range from "Composting Forest Biomass to Reduce...
April 23, 2015
EPA Seeks Comment On Proposed RFS Deadlines
As referenced in last week's Biobased and Renewable Products Update, EPA published a Proposed Consent Decree along with a request for comment in response to the Clean Air Act (CAA) lawsuit filed by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) and the American Petroleum Institute (API). The decree will establish deadlines for EPA to propose and issue in final the 2015 RFS. Comments are being accepted until May 20, 2015....
On April 21, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the initial installment of its Quadrennial Energy Review (QER). This first installment focuses on ways to modernize the U.S. energy infrastructure to increase the country's energy competitiveness and security. In its QER, DOE points out that while U.S. biofuel production has increased significantly over the past decade — due largely to the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) –"[c]ontinued growth in ethanol use...
On April 15, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) held a one-day workshop regarding assessing risks to endangered and threatened species from pesticides. This workshop was intended to provide a forum for stakeholders to offer scientific and technical feedback on the ongoing agency efforts to...
April 16, 2015
EPA Issues Letter Stating It is “Unlikely” to Approve New Outdoor Neonicotinoid Pesticide Uses
On April 2, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent a letter to all registrants of nitroguanidine neonicotinoid pesticide products stating that “until the data on pollinator health have been received and appropriate risk assessments completed,” EPA is “unlikely to be in a position to determine that such uses would avoid ‘unreasonable adverse effects on the environment’ as required under FFIRA to support further regulatory expansion of these pesticides in...
April 16, 2015
Elevance Wins 2015 New Energy Pioneer Award
Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®) member Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. (Elevance) was named a 2015 New Energy Pioneer award winner by Bloomberg New Energy Finance on April 13, 2015. Elevance CEO K'Lynne Johnson accepted the award on behalf of the company. Bloomberg New Energy Finance recognized Elevance and nine other companies as revolutionizing the energy sector in potential scale, innovation, and momentum. Elevance's recent introductions include the...
April 16, 2015
Ohio Cuts Alternative Fuel Mandate In Transportation Budget
On April 1, 2015, the Governor of Ohio, John Kasich (R), signed the 2016-2017 Transportation Budget Bill (Sub. H.B. 53). The state transportation budget does not include a requirement on alternative fuel use in the state vehicle fleet, a requirement that had been in place since 2006. Ohio Department of Transportation's Matt Bruning stated that the requirement mandated the state increase the amount of alternative fuels each year with no cap in place, resulting in...
On April 9, 2015, the Pentagon released the Rocky Mountain/West Coast/Offshore Bulk Fuels Annual Buy (RMW) solicitation for biofuels on the FedBizOpps website. This purchase program supports the goal set by the Secretary of the Navy to have half of the Department of the Navy's energy come from alternative sources by 2020. Funding to defray additional biofuel costs for the RMW program is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Commodity Credit Corporation....
April 16, 2015
House Subcommittee Hearing On TSCA Modernization Act
On April 14, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a hearing on the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015 discussion draft (TMA-DD). An analysis of the April 7, 2015, TMA-DD is available on the Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) website. The April 14, 2015, witnesses’ testimonies are posted on the Energy & Commerce Committee website....
April 16, 2015
EPA Announces Timeline For Renewable Fuel Standards
On April 10, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lodged with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia a proposed consent decree to resolve litigation challenging the delay in issuing Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) for 2014 and 2015 brought by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) against EPA. The consent decree would establish EPA’s schedule for issuing a RFS for 2014 and 2015. In its...
April 14, 2015
NNI Publishes Outcomes of the 2015 EU-U.S.: Bridging NanoEHS Research Efforts Joint Workshop
The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) published on March 23, 2015, the outcomes of the March 12-13, 2015, joint workshop held by the U.S. and the European Union (EU), “Bridging NanoEHS Research Efforts.” The workshop was intended to promote and deepen the collaboration on nanotechnology environmental, health, and safety (nanoEHS) research. Workshop participants reviewed progress toward U.S.-EU Communities of Research (COR) goals and objectives, shared best...
On March 24, 2015, the European Commission (EC) announced a call for data on the ingredient “colloidal silver (nano).” According to the EC, it has received notification of several cosmetics products containing the ingredient “colloidal silver (nano)” (CAS No. 7440-22-4). The EC states that although this ingredient is not regulated in the cosmetics regulation, it is reported in the Cosmetic Ingredients and Substances (CosIng) database with antimicrobial functions. According to the...