On November 29, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has scheduled the first public meetings of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC). The first meeting, a preparatory virtual meeting, and will be held on January 8, 2019, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST). The second meeting, a four-day in-person meeting, will be held on January 29, 2019, from 1:00 p.m. (EST) to 5:30 p.m. and...
On November 26, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) announced that Lek Kadeli joined OCSPP’s Immediate Office as Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator (AA) (Management). EPA states that Lek has extensive experience managing and supporting a wide range of environmental and human health related programs. Lek has worked at EPA previously; for eight years he was the Principal Deputy AA in EPA’s Office of...
On November 19, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) Stakeholder Forum will take place on December 4, 2018, from 12:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. (EST) and on December 5, 2018, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST) at the Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place, in Washington, D.C. The RCC brings together senior regulatory officials, industry, and other members of the public from...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice on November 15, 2018, announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on the first draft chemical risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), as amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg). The draft risk evaluation for Colour Index (C.I.) Pigment Violet 29 is intended to determine whether C.I. Pigment Violet 29 presents an...
November 17, 2018
EU NanoSafety Cluster Releases EU-U.S. Roadmap Nanoinformatics 2030
The European Union (EU) released the EU US Roadmap Nanoinformatics 2030 on November 15, 2018. The Roadmap, developed by scientists from the EU, U.S., and a few other countries, is a compilation of state-of-the-art commentaries from multiple interconnecting scientific fields, combined with issues involving nanomaterial risk assessment and governance. The Roadmap states that in bringing these issues together into a coherent set of milestones, the authors address three recognized challenges...
The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Alexandra Dapolito Dunn to be the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator (AA) for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) on Thursday, November 29, 2018, at 10:30 a.m. (EST) in room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The hearing will be webcast and will be available on the EPW Committee website. Ms. Dunn has...
November 16, 2018
European Parliament Sets Targets On Renewables And Energy Efficiency
By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 13, 2018, the European Parliament (EP) announced its approval of new targets for renewables and energy efficiency rates to be achieved by 2030. According to the press release, “by 2030, energy efficiency in the [European Union (EU)] has to have improved by 32.5%, whereas the share of energy from renewables should be at least 32% of the EU’s gross final consumption.” Highlighting the crucial role of second generation biofuels rather...
November 16, 2018
EPA Submits ICR To OMB On RFS Recordkeeping And Reporting
By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 13, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the submission for review of an information collection request (ICR) on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 83 Fed. Reg. 56319. The Federal Register notice states that purpose of this submission is to obtain OMB approval of an ICR that consolidates some existing collections. By consolidating the existing collections and...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 9, 2018, DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, Steven Winberg, announced the new director of the DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL): Brian J. Anderson, Ph.D. Dr. Anderson will serve, as of November 11, 2018, as the new director of NETL. Dr. Anderson founded and headed the West Virginia University Energy Institute prior to taking the role of NETL director. Winberg highlighted that Dr. Anderson’s background in...
November 16, 2018
DOE Announces Phase II Topics For FY 2019
By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 13, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the topic areas for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) for research and development (R&D) proposals for funding by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) in fiscal year (FY) 2019. The topics include: advanced manufacturing; bioenergy; buildings; fuel cells; geothermal; solar; vehicles; water; and wind. They also...