Blogs

On January 3, 2018, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) issued Notice 2018-01:  Expanding Use of Pesticide Products Under Reevaluation.  Under Notice 2018-01, effective immediately, DPR will not act upon an Application for Pesticide Registration or an Application to Amend a Pesticide Product if it determines the registration or acceptance would potentially “expand use” of an active ingredient or pesticide product currently under reevaluation until the...

On January 5, 2018, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed a Petition for Review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Second Circuit) of what is characterized as a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “final rule” issued November 7, 2017, entitled “New Chemicals Decision-Making Framework:  Working Approach to Making Determinations under Section 5 of TSCA.”  The Framework Document, as it has come to be called, is the “final rule” at issue...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Margaret R. Graham On January 10-11, 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NAS) Standing Committee on Use of Emerging Science for Environmental Health Decisions (ESEHD) convened a workshop entitled “The Promise of Genome Editing Tools to Advance Environmental Health Research.”  The meeting is intended to bring together experts in molecular biology, toxicology, and public health to explore opportunities for using...

On January 8, 2018, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) announced the availability of a research report on nanotechnology in construction and demolition, as well as guidance for industry.  The aim of the research was to provide clarity regarding the current use of nanomaterials in the built environment and the potential benefits and risks arising for those working in the construction and demolition sectors.  Research included review of academic...

The German Environment Agency (UBA) has published a report summarizing the contents and outcomes of the October 2017 scientific stakeholder meeting on nanomaterials in the environment.  The meeting focused on the relevant regulatory results of recent German and European research projects on nanomaterials in the environment.  The stakeholder meeting provided a forum for participants to present the state of the knowledge on environmental nanosafety in a regulatory context, as well as to...

On January 2, 2018, State Attorneys General from eleven states (Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) (collectively the States) filed a friend of the court brief in Nat’l Ass’n of Wheat Growers v. Zeise, E.D. Cal. (No. 2:17-cv-02401) (Brief), a case challenging California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s (OEHHA) decision to list glyphosate as a carcinogen under Proposition 65 (Prop 65). OEHHA...

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) announced on December 22, 2017, the availability of its assessment of the environmental performance of the Estonian Presidency of the European Union (EU).  The assessment is based on the results of “Ten Green Tests” laid out at the beginning of Estonia’s Presidency.  The eighth test is protecting the public from hazardous chemicals, including mercury.  The test includes encouraging the European Commission (EC) “to develop a...

On January 2, 2018, State Attorneys General from eleven states (Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) (collectively the States) filed a friend of the court brief in Nat’l Ass’n of Wheat Growers v. Zeise, E.D. Cal. (No. 2:17-cv-02401) (Brief), a case challenging California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s (OEHHA) decision to list glyphosate as a carcinogen under Proposition 65 (Prop 65). OEHHA...

Time is running out on the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA), and it could die a natural death on January 19, 2018, absent Congressional action.  Congress enacted PRIA in 2003 and in so doing established a fee schedule for pesticide registration and amendment applications and critically important specified decision time periods within which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must make a regulatory decision.  PRIA has been reauthorized twice, and was...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s (B&C®) much anticipated and highly acclaimed annual Forecast, “Predictions and Outlook for U.S. Federal and International Chemical Regulatory Policy 2018,” is now available.  In the Forecast, the lawyers, scientists, and chemical regulatory specialists at B&C and its affiliated consulting firm, The Acta Group (Acta®), offer comprehensive and highly useful observations on the fast-changing and nuanced area of domestic and global chemical legal,...