Blogs

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 13, 2023, that it will accept public comments on candidates under consideration for selection as ad hoc reviewers to assist the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) with peer review of two draft documents related to cumulative risk assessment under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Biographies of these candidates are available on regulations.gov. If selected, candidates will serve as...

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) will hold a virtual public meeting on February 16, 2023, postponed from January 10, 2023, on the chemicals under consideration for listing as Chemicals of Concern (COC) and High-Priority Chemicals (HPC) for the Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Products (TCCP) program. NYS DEC will present an overview of the enacted TCCP law and discuss the chemicals under consideration for listing as COCs and HPCs that manufacturers will be...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) will hold a webinar on February 22, 2023, entitled “DOE’s Progress Toward Meeting the Goals of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge.” The Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Grand Challenge is a government-wide commitment to scale up production of SAF to 35 billion gallons per year by 2050 and reduce lifecycle aviation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 23, 2023, that the New Chemicals Program will hold a webinar on February 28, 2023, on EPA’s process for assessing the potential risks of new chemicals under Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the types of data EPA considers in this assessment. EPA states that specifically, the upcoming webinar will cover commonly missed information in Section 5 submissions and how EPA evaluates environmental release...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 23, 2023, that the New Chemicals Program will hold a webinar on February 28, 2023, on EPA’s process for assessing the potential risks of new chemicals under Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the types of data EPA considers in this assessment. EPA states that specifically, the upcoming webinar will cover commonly missed information in Section 5...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   On February 8, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $25.5 million in funding to enable the sustainable use of domestic biomass and waste resources, such as agricultural residues and algae, to produce low-carbon biofuels and bioproducts. DOE notes that this funding will advance the Biden Administration’s goals of delivering an equitable, clean energy future, and will put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions,...

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) New Approach Methodologies (NAM) Use for Regulatory Applications (NURA) program is offering a free three-session training series on replacing the traditional two-year bioassay with a more effective, human-relevant carcinogenicity assessment. In “Tomorrow’s Data Today: Sunsetting the 2-year Carcinogenicity Assay,” toxicologists, risk assessors, and scientists will hear directly from other experts on the current progress among working...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 3, 2023, the release of three improved pollution prevention (P2) calculator tools -- the P2 Cost Calculator, the P2 Greenhouse Gas Calculator, and the P2 Calculator for Reductions in Hazardous Substances, Pollutants and Contaminants. According to EPA, these tools convert information on P2 activities at a business, such as reductions in energy use, into information on cost savings and pollution...

On February 3, 2023, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) announced that it published a supplement to President Biden’s 2023 budget request. NNI notes that the supplement serves as its annual report, called for under the provisions of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, and also addresses the requirement for Department of Defense (DOD) reporting on its nanotechnology investments. The NNI budget represents the sum of the nanotechnology-related...

On January 31, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invited nominations of scientific experts from a diverse range of disciplines to be considered for appointment to the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB). 88 Fed. Reg. 6255. The SAB is a chartered Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) that provides independent scientific and technical peer review, consultation, advice, and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on the scientific bases for EPA’s actions and programs. The EPA...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on January 26, 2023, $118 million in funding for 17 projects to accelerate the production of sustainable biofuels for America’s transportation and manufacturing needs. According to DOE, the selected projects, located at universities and private companies, “will drive the domestic production of biofuels and bioproducts by advancing biorefinery development, from pre-pilot to demonstration, to...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s (B&C®) January 31, 2023, webinar “What to Expect in Chemicals Policy and Regulation and on Capitol Hill in 2023” is now available for on-demand viewing. During this one-hour webinar, Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, B&C; James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant, B&C; Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, B&C; and Dennis R. Deziel, Senior Government Affairs Advisor, B&C discussed...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s (B&C®) January 31, 2023, webinar “What to Expect in Chemicals Policy and Regulation and on Capitol Hill in 2023” is now available for on-demand viewing. During this one-hour webinar, Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, B&C; James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant, B&C; Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, B&C; and Dennis R. Deziel, Senior Government Affairs Advisor, B&C discussed...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced in its February 1, 2023, ECHA Weekly that it has released an updated appendix for nanomaterials that provides guidance on how to obtain data under the new information requirements for nanoforms. According to ECHA, this includes information on how to perform environmental testing and advice on preparation methods and testing strategies for physico-chemical testing of nanoforms. ECHA notes that the Partner Expert Group (PEG) members...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on January 31, 2023, that it has extended the deadline for public comment on its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (Green Guides) to April 24, 2023. FTC states in its December 14, 2022, news release that it seeks to update the Green Guides “based on increasing consumer interest in buying environmentally friendly products.” FTC expects “many public comments” on the following specific issues:...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently published its new Strategy for Plastics Innovation (SPI), which will guide DOE’s collaborative research and development (R&D) on plastic waste reduction. Four strategic goals focus the scope of the SPI: Deconstruction: Create new chemical, thermal, and biological/hybrid pathways to deconstruct plastics efficiently into useful chemical intermediates;   Upcycling: Advance the scientific and...

On January 17, 2023, the European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) published a Nanopinion entitled “EU 2025: Enjoying the Benefits of Nanotechnology and NMS” by Dr. Anastasios Papadiamantis and Dr. Antreas Afantitis, both of NovaMechanics Ltd. The authors report the findings of a study commissioned by EUON on the EU market for nanomaterials, including substances, uses, volumes, and key operators. The authors state that the EU (including the European Economic Area (EEA)...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on January 23, 2023, that researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) examined the benefits and trade-offs of current and emerging technologies for recycling certain types of plastics to determine the optimal options. According to BETO, the researchers provided a comparison of various closed-loop recycling technologies, which allow for the reuse...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced on December 30, 2022, that it received a petition requesting the addition of polyphenylene sulfide to the list of taxable substances under Section 4672(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. 87 Fed. Reg. 80579. The petitioner is Celanese Ltd., an exporter of polyphenylene sulfide. According to the petition, “polyphenylene sulfide is a high-performance thermoplastic, has high heat and chemical resistance, and is used in applications such as filters,...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on January 20, 2023, that a collaborative team of BETO-funded scientists from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are searching for carbon utilization technologies that can make better use of the carbon dioxide generated by industry, transportation, and agriculture by transforming it into sustainable aviation fuel and...