Blogs

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a hearing on March 20, 2024, on “Examining PFAS as Hazardous Substances.” The scheduled witnesses include:...

On March 5, 2024, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) held a symposium entitled “Enabling the Nanotechnology Revolution: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act.” The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) posted a readout of the symposium on March 6, 2024. According to OSTP, during the symposium, “leaders from academia, government, and industry spoke about U.S. success in nanotechnology and future...

On March 5, 2024, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) published its supplement to the President’s 2024 budget request. NNI states that the President’s 2024 budget requests an “all-time record” of $2.16 billion for it, with a sustained investment in foundational research that will fuel new discoveries and increase investments in application-driven research and development (R&D) to advance technologies of the future and address national priorities. The President’s 2024...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 6, 2024, a settlement requiring Haifa North America, Inc. (Haifa) to pay a civil penalty of $664,267 “for violations of chemical data reporting regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).” EPA states that it alleged that Haifa failed to submit a data report required under TSCA for 32 chemical substances that Haifa had imported between 2016 and 2019. According to EPA, Haifa imports “various chemicals...

In a March 4, 2024, blog item entitled “Sweating the Small Stuff: 20 years of NIOSH Research on Engineering Controls for Nanotechnology,” the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) highlighted the control approaches that it has recommended, “based on extensive research on the pharmaceutical, coatings, and cosmetic industries”: NIOSH states that following the publication of Current Strategies for Engineering Controls in Nanomaterial Production and Downstream...

On February 29, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested public nominations of scientific and technical experts for service as ad hoc reviewers assisting the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) with the peer review of the Agency’s evaluation of the risks from di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) being conducted to inform risk management decisions under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 89 Fed. Reg. 14836. EPA states that it is...

On March 8, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture honored the second annual National Biobased Products Day, “a celebration to raise public awareness of biobased products, their benefits and their contributions to the U.S. economy and rural communities.” USDA states that as part of its activities to honor National Biobased Products Day, it released two reports: Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry USDA states that its commissioned report “An Economic Impact...

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will host the Clean Fuels & Products Shot™ Summit on April 8, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (EDT), and April 9, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (EDT). The virtual event will gather stakeholders across government, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations to engage on the objectives, progress, priorities, and future plans for the seventh DOE Energy Earthshot™. According to DOE, the Clean Fuels & Products Shot...

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced on February 13, 2024, their intent to issue funding to support research and development (R&D) projects for converting algae and other wet waste feedstocks to low-carbon fuels, chemicals, and agricultural products. DOE states that the intended Mixed Algae Conversion Research Opportunity (MACRO) funding would address gaps in the use of carbon dioxide...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Constituent Update on March 4, 2024, that updates its “List of Select Chemicals in the Food Supply Under FDA Review.” FDA states that the intent of this update is “…to provide more insight on the status of the FDA’s post-market assessments of chemicals in the food supply.” The information posted today includes many chemicals that FDA has been actively engaged in reviewing for the past several...