Blogs

On March 14, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 14236, rescinding 19 executive actions, including former President Biden’s September 2022 EO 14081, “Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy.” 90 Fed. Reg. 13037. According to the White House’s March 14, 2025, fact sheet, EO 14081 “funneled Federal resources into radical biotech and biomanufacturing initiatives under the guise of environmental...

On March 14, 2025, Amazon filed suit against the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, challenging CPSC’s July 29, 2024, and January 16, 2025, orders determining that Amazon is “a ‘distributor’ of certain products that are defective or fail to meet federal consumer product safety standards, and therefore bears legal responsibility for their recall.” According to CPSC’s January 17, 2025, announcement, “[m]ore than 400,000...

Current news on the government efficiency and reform front concerns the near-miss of a government shutdown last week (the budget would have lapsed at midnight on March 14, 2025). One reason some cited against allowing a shutdown to occur is how it might encourage or otherwise aid in attempts to eliminate positions if they were deemed “essential” or not. As one who has gone through the “who is essential” exercise in a senior management position...

The Council of the European Union (EU) announced on March 14, 2025, that the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) endorsed the Council’s negotiating mandate on the regulation on plants obtained by new genomic techniques (NGT) and their food and feed. The regulation proposed by the European Commission (EC) would create two ways for NGT plants to be placed on the market: The proposed regulation...

After President Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, it is unclear if there will be much desire or willingness on behalf of the Democrats and Republicans to collaborate on legislation during the 119th Congress. President Trump and congressional Republicans are moving toward “one big, beautiful” reconciliation bill (that is possible to enact without Democratic support) that will reflect most of President Trump’s priorities. The question is: what happens after...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 11, 2025, the rescheduled meeting dates of the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) that had been previously scheduled for February 2025 to consider and review the draft risk evaluation for 1,3-butadiene. 90 Fed. Reg. 11737. The rescheduled preparatory meeting for the SACC to consider the scope and clarity of the revised draft charge questions for the peer review will now be held on March 25,...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 7, 2025, that it is extending the comment period on the draft risk evaluation for dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA released the risk evaluation for DCHP on January 7, 2025, with a comment period that closed March 10, 2025. EPA states that it will soon publish a Federal Register notice extending the public comment period for an additional 60 days....

On February 6, 2025, the European Union (EU) Advocate General (EU AG) recommended that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) overturn the 2022 decision of the General Court annulling the 2019 harmonized classification and labeling of titanium dioxide as a carcinogenic substance by inhalation in certain powder forms. As reported in our December 6, 2022, memorandum, the court annulled the European Commission’s (EC) decision to classify titanium dioxide as a suspected human carcinogen. The French...

On March 5, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extended the comment period on the draft scope of the risk evaluation to be conducted under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for vinyl chloride. 90 Fed. Reg. 11315. As reported in our January 28, 2025, memorandum, under TSCA, the scope documents must include the conditions of use (COU), hazards, exposures, and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations (PESS) that EPA expects to consider in...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 6, 2025, that it plans to issue a rule “soon” to extend the reporting deadline for a rule under Section 8(d) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requiring manufacturers (including importers) of 16 chemicals to report data from unpublished health and safety studies to EPA. The rule applies to manufacturers in the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes for chemical manufacturing (NAICS code 325)...

On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is reopening the comment period for the January 2025 proposed rule to address the unreasonable risk of injury to human health presented by Color Index (C.I.) Pigment Violet 29 (PV29) under its conditions of use (COU) as documented in EPA’s January 2021 risk evaluation and September 2022 revised risk determination. 90 Fed. Reg. 11142. Comments are due April 29, 2025. As reported...

On January 16, 2025, Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Joni Ernst (R-IA) reintroduced the Farm to Fly Act (S. 144), which would help accelerate the production and development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) through existing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs to allow further growth for alternative fuels to be used in the aviation sector and create new markets for American farmers. According...

Headlines this weekend refer to “renewed chaos” over e-mails sent to federal employees at most (some? all?) agencies of the government — asking employees to list their five accomplishments for the week. In our February 24, 2025, blog item, we explored how employees might answer such vague requests in the absence of more guidance about who is asking and what is to be reported. The larger issue is that the current turmoil and confused information...

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on February 7, 2025, that its 2025 Project Peer Review, initially planned for April 22-25, 2025, is postponed until a future, yet to be determined, date. According to BETO, approximately 200 projects in its research, development, and demonstration portfolio “will be presented to the public and systematically reviewed by experts from industry, academia, and federal agencies.” BETO notes that the 2025...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to announce the release by American Bar Association (ABA) Publishing of Chemical Product Law and Supply Chain Stewardship: A Guide to New TSCA, edited by B&C Managing Partner Lynn L. Bergeson and authored by Ms. Bergeson and members of B&C’s highly experienced Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) practice group. This invaluable guide provides a road map to navigate efficiently the transformational changes in chemical product law,...

On February 26, 2027, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a report entitled Independent Audit of the EPA’s Fiscal Years 2022 and 2021 (Restated) Toxic Substances Control Act Service Fee Fund Financial Statements. Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), as amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, EPA is required to prepare and OIG to audit the accompanying financial statements of the...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on February 27, 2025, that it will begin to accept petitions for nonregulated status according to APHIS biotechnology regulations at 7 C.F.R. Part 340 (2019) on March 3, 2025. APHIS notes that its biotechnology regulations enable developers to petition for a determination that an “article” is not regulated. The petition process applies only to plants that meet the regulatory definition...

On February 25, 2025, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report entitled High-Risk Series: Heightened Attention Could Save Billions More and Improve Government Efficiency and Effectiveness, “highlight[ing] 38 areas across the federal government that are seriously vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement or that are in need of transformation.” The category “Seizing Opportunities to Better Protect Public Health and Reduce Risk” lists high-risk areas...

Much has been written about the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which Congress can use to repeal qualifying federal agency actions. The CRA was enacted as part of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA). According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), through 2024 the CRA was used to repeal 20 rules, including 16 during President Trump’s first term. The CRA was also used successfully one time in the 107th Congress (2001-2002) under...

On February 21, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extended the comment deadline for the January 17, 2025, proposed rule to clarify the timeframe for when companies must first notify a customer that one of its mixtures or trade name products contains a per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) listed on the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). 90 Fed. Reg. 10043. As reported in our January 22, 2025, blog item, the Biden EPA proposed the rule...