Blogs

On October 30, 2018, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) held a webinar on its revised draft document entitled Current Intelligence Bulletin:  Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials.  The meeting agenda and slide presentation are available in the docket, as well as a list of meeting attendees.  As reported in our September 19, 2018, blog item, the revised draft Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) provides an updated scientific...

On October 17, 2018, the Trump Administration published its Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Regulatory Agenda).  There are many interesting entries, some of which are flagged here. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed implementing Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) amendments to enhance public health and chemical safety as one of its top priorities.  According to EPA, the amendments to TSCA that were enacted in June 2016...

On October 31, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is extending the registration of dicamba for two years for “over-the-top” use (application to growing plants) to control weeds in fields for cotton and soybean plants genetically engineered to resist dicamba.  EPA states that the registration for these dicamba products will expire on December 20, 2020, unless EPA decides to further extend it.  EPA states that the label changes described below...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 30, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a statement by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., and FDA Deputy Commissioner Anna Abram regarding FDA’s new action plan to advance plant and animal biotechnology innovation.  Aimed at ensuring the safety of plant and animal biotechnology products and avoiding unnecessary barriers to future innovation, the Action Plan focuses on three key priorities: Advancing public health by promoting...

By Lynn L. Bergeson In October 2018, DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) published a report called “Cell-Free Synthetic Biology and Biocatalysis:  Prototyping and Conversion Platforms.”  The report consists of a summary from discussions held on a listening day by BETO in Denver, Colorado, in 2017.  The public meeting was intended to discuss research and development opportunities related to cell-free synthetic biology and biocatalysis, and how these...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 30, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the topics for 2019 funding opportunities.  Amongst the program offices that are participating in this solicitation, is the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, who will be hosting an informational webinar on November 6, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. (EST) as an opportunity to ask the DOE Program Managers any questions about DOE funding opportunities.  The 90-minute webinar requires registration...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 30, 2018, Earthjustice and the Clean Air Task Force submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a petition “to amend its ‘aggregate compliance’ approach to the definition of biomass under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) … to prevent the conversion of native grasslands.”  The petition was filed on behalf of 11 organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club, and urges EPA’s...

The European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) posted a report on the October 5-6, 2017, “NanoReg2 Regulatory Preparedness for Innovation in Nanotechnology Workshop.”  Regulatory preparedness was defined at the workshop as the regulators’ timely awareness of innovations and the regulators’ actions to check whether present legislation covers all safety aspects of each innovation, including initiating revision of the legislation as appropriate.  Achieving...

The European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) announced publication of a paper introducing a new standardized testing procedure for nanomaterial environmental toxicity, “Introducing a new standardized nanomaterial environmental toxicity screening testing procedure, ISO/TS 20787:  aquatic toxicity assessment of manufactured nanomaterials in saltwater lakes using Artemia sp. nauplii.”  The abstract states that the testing procedure is intended to generate more reliable and...

In August 2018, Safe Work Australia (SWA) issued a national guide on classifying hazardous chemicals.  SWA intends the guidance for manufacturers and importers of substances, mixtures, and articles who have a duty under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act and Regulations to classify them.  SWA suggests that the guidance may also be useful for suppliers, persons undertaking business and undertakings, workers, and other persons involved with hazardous chemicals.  The guidance...