On June 10, 2015, and June 15, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a webinar entitled “eDisclosure: EPA's Plan to Modernize the Implementation of the Audit Policy and the Small Business Compliance Policy.” During the webinar, EPA set forth its plans to release in fall 2015 a centralized online portal called eDisclosure to allow companies to submit self-disclosures electronically under EPA’s Incentives for Self-Policing: Discovery,...
On June 19, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a plan for incorporating validated high throughput assays and a computational model into the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) to screen chemicals for their ability to interact with the endocrine system. These proposed new methods would serve as an alternative for three of the eleven current assays in the EDSP Tier 1 screening battery, specifically the estrogen receptor binding (ER), estrogen...
June 22, 2015
SUN Opens Survey on Risk Management of Nanotechnology
On May 26, 2015, Sustainable Nanotechnologies (SUN) began a survey on risk management of nanotechnology. A key objective of SUN is to build the SUN Decision Support System to facilitate safe and sustainable nanomanufacturing and risk management. It will integrate tools for ecological and human health risk assessment, lifecycle assessment, economic assessment, and social impact assessment within a sustainability assessment framework. SUN seeks responses from personnel of companies involved in...
June 19, 2015
NanoRem Announces Initial Ecotoxicity Results
Taking Nanotechnological Remediation Processes from Lab Scale to End User Applications for the Restoration of a Clean Environment (NanoRem) is a research project funded through the European Commission (EC) FP7. On May 6, 2015, NanoRem issued a press release announcing that no significant toxicological effects were found on soil or water organisms when ecotoxicological tests were undertaken for a range of nanoparticles that could be used for remediation projects: NanoFer 25S, made from...
On June 17, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice announcing the availability for comment of three draft revised 810 series test guidelines developed by the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP). These test guidelines will provide updated guidance on antimicrobial efficacy testing to the regulated community. EPA states that when these guidelines were published in final in 2012, they drew criticism as confusing and inaccurate. EPA...
On June 12, 2015, Federal District Judge Maxine Chesney issued a decision in Ellis v. Housenger (N.D. Cal.) allowing the plaintiffs to utilize expert declarations and exhibits that were not included in the certified administrative record to support their contentions that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) improperly failed to consult the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The plaintiffs in the Ellis case are...
It is not too late to register for Bioenergy 2015, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the Clean Energy Research and Education Foundation (CEREF), and taking place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. on June 23–24, 2015. Speakers include Jonathan Male, Director, BETO; Franklin (Lynn) Orr, Under Secretary for Science and Energy, DOE; Robert M. Simon, Principal Advisor to the Director for Energy,...
June 19, 2015
Coca-Cola Announces 100% Plant Material Bottle
At the World Expo in Milan, Italy, on June 3, 2015, The Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola) unveiled the world's first 100% plant material polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottle. Coca-Cola has been using the 30% plant material PlantBottle™ since 2009, so this is the first bottle that is made completely from renewable materials while functioning exactly as a traditional PET bottle. It is estimated that the previous iteration of the PlantBottle™ reduced carbon dioxide emissions...
June 19, 2015
UPM Receives €13.1 Million From EU For ValChem Project
On June 11, 2015, the European Union (EU) provided UPM's ValChem project with €13.1 million to demonstrate the wood to chemicals value chain. ValChem is working to produce chemical building blocks and lignin from wood, resulting in a sustainable integrated process to produce economically viable biochemicals. UPM will work with Sekab, METabolic EXplorer, and Technische Universität Darmstadt on the ValChem project, which has a budget of €18.5 million. ValChem will use...
June 19, 2015
USDA Is Now Accepting Applications From States For Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership
On June 12, 2015, the USDA began accepting applications for grants under the Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership (BIP). Through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), BIP will provide up to $100 million in grants to support infrastructure development to make renewable fuel options, including E15 and E85, an option for more American consumers. CCC funds will pay a portion of the costs associated with the installation infrastructure and fuel pumps used to distribute higher ethanol blends to...