DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the Clean Energy Research and Educational Foundation (CEREF) are co-hosting Bioenergy 2015: Opportunities in a Changing Energy Landscape, scheduled for June 23-24, 2015, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. This year's conference will focus on opportunities and challenges in our current highly dynamic energy ecosystem.
The Bioeconomy Coalition of Minnesota is advocating strongly for two bills in the state that if passed would result in a two-year, $5 million production incentive for producers, and a capital loan equipment program. The bills, HF 536 and SF 517, would benefit companies that develop biochemicals, advanced biofuels, and anaerobic digestion projects. There is concern, however, that the legislation would increase the production of corn rather than encourage the production of crops that do not...
March 20, 2015
EPA Releases Notice On The GHG Emissions Of Pennycress Oil
On March 12, 2015, Christopher Grundler, Director of EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, signed the Notice Of Opportunity to Comment on an Analysis of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Attributable to Production and Transport of Pennycress (Thlaspi Avense) Oil for Use in Biofuel Production. This notice states that biofuels produced from pennycress oil could qualify as biomass-based diesel or advanced biofuel when they are produced using typical fuel production process technologies. The...
On March 13, 2015, the National Academies issued Industrialization Of Biology: A Roadmap To Accelerate The Advanced Manufacturing Of Chemicals, a 143-page report prepared in response to a request from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to "develop a roadmap of necessary advances in basic science and engineering capabilities, including knowledge, tools and skills" to accelerate the advanced manufacturing of chemicals using biological systems. Thirteen...
On Wednesday, March 18, 2015, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) held a hearing on S. 697, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. The following individuals testified during the hearing: James Jones, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Dr. Richard Denison, Senior Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund; Dr. Edward McCabe, Senior Vice President and Chief...
March 19, 2015
NNI Publishes Supplement to President’s 2016 Budget
The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) published on March 11, 2015, its supplement to the President’s 2016 budget submitted to Congress. NNI states that the supplement serves as the NNI annual report. According to the annual report, in 2014, federal agencies invested $1.57 billion in nanotechnology-related activities. The President’s 2016 request calls for an investment of $1.50 billion, which the report states “affirm[s] the Administration’s continuing...
The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) published on March 12, 2015, the proceedings of a September 15, 2014, meeting on “Realizing the Promise of Carbon Nanotubes: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Pathway to Commercialization,” held at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters. According to NNI, a number of common themes and potential future research and development priorities emerged: Increased efforts devoted to manufacturing, quality...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Information Sharing regarding the sharing of data and other confidential information related to substances that may be present in human food, animal food and feed, animal drugs, and cosmetics. EPA and FDA state in the MOU that the sharing of such information will “open[] channels of communication between the agencies” and will “serve to...
March 16, 2015
Supreme Court Confirms That Agency Interpretative Rules Do Not Require Notice and Comment, Even When They Change a Prior Interpretation
In a March 9, 2015, decision in Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Ass'n., the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that an interpretative rule issued by an administrative agency does not require notice and opportunity for comment, even if the interpretative rule construes a substantive (or "legislative") rule previously issued by the agency and even if the interpretative rule alters a prior interpretation of the same rule. In the Perez decision, the Court explicitly...
On March 2, 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) executed a settlement agreement (Agreement) following the ACC’s petition for judicial review of EPA’s antimicrobial pesticide data requirements final rule issued on May 8, 2013 (78 Fed. Reg. 26936). The judicial review proceeding was held in abeyance while settlement discussions were pursued between EPA and ACC for this final rule, entitled “Data Requirements...