Blogs

As reported in our November 2, 2020, blog item, on October 30, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule on the Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) regulation that revises the requirements on the pesticide application exclusion zone (AEZ), defined as an “area surrounding the point(s) of pesticide discharge from the application equipment that must generally be free of all persons during pesticide applications.” The final AEZ requirements were...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On April 12, 2022, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Tom Vilsack, Agriculture Secretary, announced steps that USDA is taking to implement President Biden’s plan to enable energy independence by boosting homegrown biofuels. President Biden’s plan aims to reduce energy prices and tackle the rising consumer prices caused by “Putin’s Price Hike.” As part of USDA’s measures to help the...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on May 11, 2022, that it is launching a new, modern Design for the Environment (DfE) logo that will appear on antimicrobial products like disinfectants and sanitizers within the next year. EPA intends the DfE logo to help consumers and commercial buyers identify antimicrobial products that meet the health and safety standards of the typical pesticide registration process required by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and...

On May 12, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the publication of information collected during the 2020 Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) cycle to increase public awareness of chemicals being manufactured in communities and to enable citizen and stakeholder access and use of the reported information. The CDR rule requires manufacturers (including importers) of certain chemicals listed on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory to...

On May 12, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule relating to the assertion and maintenance of confidential business information (CBI) claims under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 87 Fed. Reg. 29078. EPA states in its May 12, 2022, press release that the proposed rule includes new and amended requirements that, if made final, would increase transparency, modernize reporting and review procedures, and ensure consistency with the 2016...

 On May 6, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of, and requesting comments on, data related to aquatic toxicity of chitosan salts. 87 Fed. Reg. 27059. Specifically, EPA is seeking comments on the following two aquatic toxicity reports submitted by Tidal Vision Products, LLC (Tidal Vision), the company that submitted a petition to EPA on October 10, 2018, requesting that EPA add chitosan to...

By Lynn L. Bergeson The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Safer Choice Program announced on March 28, 2022, that it is accepting submissions for its 2022 Safer Choice Partner of the Year Awards. 87 Fed. Reg. 17287. EPA states that it developed the Partner of the Year Awards “to recognize the leadership contributions of Safer Choice partners and stakeholders who, over the past year, have shown achievement in the design, manufacture, selection and use of products...

According to a May 9, 2022, news item published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Advancing EPA’s Understanding of the Next Generation of Pesticides,” over the past decade, EPA “has received an increasing number of pesticide product applications that potentially contain nanomaterials.” The article notes that EPA’s current pesticide review method was not designed for nanomaterials, so each product is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. An EPA research team led by EPA...

According to a May 9, 2022, news item published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Advancing EPA’s Understanding of the Next Generation of Pesticides,” over the past decade, EPA “has received an increasing number of pesticide product applications that potentially contain nanomaterials.” The article notes that EPA’s current pesticide review method was not designed for nanomaterials, so each product is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. An EPA research team led by EPA...

On May 12, 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s (OSTP) National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Strategy Team on Sustainable Chemistry will host the second webinar in a series regarding the team’s tasks of defining, assessing, and preparing a strategic plan in the area of sustainable chemistry in response to direction in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020. The presenters in the webinar will discuss the science, technology, and innovation...

A circular economy requires new thinking about what products we make, from which materials we make them, and where products go at the end of their useful lives. An important but often overlooked aspect of new product development is an understanding of the consequences of the product’s chemical composition and the end-of-life implications of the decisions made at the front end of the process. Working within this framework plays a critical role in building a...

On May 5, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a series of actions intended to secure environmental justice for all Americans. In addition to launching a new Office of Environmental Justice within DOJ, Attorney General Garland also announced a new comprehensive environmental justice enforcement strategy to guide DOJ’s work and an interim final rule that will restore the use of supplemental environmental projects (SEP)...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 25, 2022, the proposed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) New Chemicals Collaborative Research Program. 87 Fed. Reg. 10784. On March 10, 2022, EPA posted the draft document entitled “Modernizing the Process and Bringing Innovative Science to Evaluate New Chemicals Under TSCA.” The Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) proposes to develop and implement a multi-year collaborative research...

The NanoHarmony and NANOMET projects are holding their first face-to-face joint workshop on the development of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) test guidelines (TG) for nanomaterials back-to-back with the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) at the OECD Conference Center in Paris on June 29-30, 2022. NanoHarmony aims to facilitate and improve the development process of TGs from the perspective of the developers, users, and...

Wednesday, May 18, 202212:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. (EDT)Register Today A circular economy requires new thinking about what products we make, from which materials we make them, and where products go at the end of their useful life. An important but often overlooked aspect of new product development is an understanding of the consequences of the product’s chemical composition and the end-of-life implications of the decisions made at the front end of the process. Working...

A circular economy requires new thinking about what products we make, from which materials we make them, and where products go at the end of their useful life. An important but often overlooked aspect of new product development is an understanding of the consequences of the product’s chemical composition and the end-of-life implications of the decisions made at the front end of the process. Working within this framework plays a critical role in building a...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a virtual public meeting on April 20-21, 2022, to provide an overview of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) New Chemicals Collaborative Research Program and give stakeholders an opportunity to provide input. As described in EPA’s draft document entitled “Modernizing the Process and Bringing Innovative Science to Evaluate New Chemicals Under TSCA,” the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) proposes to develop and...

On April 20, 2022, Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) announced that the fourth joint symposium on nanotechnology will be held May 30-31, 2022. During the symposium, experts will present their findings on topics such as the use of nanotechnology in textiles and packaging, its application in agriculture, the effects of nanomaterials on the body, and future-oriented assessment approaches. BfR notes that with nanotechnology, consumer protection is expanding into...

On May 4-5, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) Executive Committee will meet to review the Office of Research and Development’s (ORD) six Strategic Research Action Plans (StRAP) for fiscal years (FY) 2023-2026. The meetings are open to the public. 87 Fed. Reg. 23861. BOSC will consider comments on the draft StRAPs that are submitted by May 3, 2022. Requests for the draft agenda or making a presentation at the meeting...

On April 13, 2022, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a Notice of Modification to Proposed Regulation on Safe Harbor Warnings for Glyphosate and Addition of Documents to Rulemaking File (Notice). OEHHA first proposed this regulation by publishing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on July 23, 2021. OEHHA provided a 75-day comment period on the original proposal and its Initial Statement of Reasons (ISOR), including an extension to file comments until...