Blogs

The European Commission (EC) announced on December 3, 2018, that it adopted amendments to several Annexes of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation to clarify the information requirements for nanomaterials.  The EC notes that REACH “has always applied to nanomaterials, but did not contain specific provisions for them, which is why companies often did not know how to register these ‘substances in nanoform.’”...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to publish a Federal Register notice on December 4, 2018, withdrawing significant new use rules (SNUR) promulgated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 26 chemical substances, including carbon nanomaterial (generic), that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN).  As reported in our October 2, 2018, blog item, EPA issued the SNURs through a direct final rule on October 3, 2018.  EPA states that it received...

The Swedish National Platform for Nanosafety (SweNanoSafe) has posted a report on the European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) November 8-9, 2018, workshop on the upcoming Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) information requirements for nanomaterials.  As reported in our April 26, 2018, blog item, the European Commission (EC) REACH Committee voted on April 26, 2018, to amend several REACH Annexes to clarify the registration requirements...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On December 6, 2018, DOE EERE will host a webinar on “Biomass Production and Water Quality in the Mississippi River Basin” at 8:00 a.m. (EST). The webinar will be presented by Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who will delve into the “modeling and analyses of potential implications of biomass production on nutrients and sediments in each of the six tributaries of the Mississippi River Basin.” Discussions will be held on...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 13, 2018, Neste, a member of the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®), announced that the Finish airport operator Finavia has decided to adopt Neste’s MY Renewable Diesel in its vehicles at four airports. Neste MY Renewable Diesel is a low-carbon biofuel produced 100 percent from renewable raw materials. Finavia’s switch to this renewable biofuel is part of its goal to reach carbon neutrality within its airports by 2020. The use...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 16, 2018, scientists at the Israeli Ben-Gurion University (BGU) of the Negev announced the discovery of a new technique to produce biofuel from human excrement. In an attempt to reduce carbon footprint and address poor sanitation in Global South countries, scientists at BGU developed a technique called hydrothermal carbonization. By hydrothermally carbonizing raw solid human waste biomass, hydrochar, a coal-like sterilized substance, can be produced and used for...

By Lynn L. Bergeson Climate Transparency, a global partnership of international organizations to stimulate G20 climate action and empower zero carbon technologies through transparency, published in early November 2018 their annual “G20 Brown to Green -- The G20 Transition to A Low-Carbon Economy” report. The report summarizes carbon-reducing activities across all G20 countries, utilizing 80 indicators. In an assessment of the climate policy and efforts performance of each G20...

By Lynn L. Bergeson As some may recall, on October 29, 2018, DOE announced the topic areas for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) for research and development (R&D) proposals for funding by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) in fiscal year (FY) 2019. The original timeline for the nine topics proposed by EERE intended for the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) was scheduled to be released on November 26, 2018....

By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 19, 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), in New Mexico, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), in California, received the Excellence in BioPreferred Procurement Awards for Fiscal Year 2018. Both LANL and LLNL are U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratories and have been awarded for the testing and adoption of biobased products within their operations. The awards reflect...

On November 29, 2018, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) held a hearing on the nomination of Alexandra Dapolito Dunn to be the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator (AA) for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP).  The hearing was webcast and is available on the EPW Committee website. In a rare sharing of bipartisan support for a Trump Administration nominee, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)...

On November 29, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has scheduled the first public meetings of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC).  The first meeting, a preparatory virtual meeting, and will be held on January 8, 2019, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EST).  The second meeting, a four-day in-person meeting, will be held on January 29, 2019, from 1:00 p.m. (EST) to 5:30 p.m. and...

On November 26, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) announced that Lek Kadeli joined OCSPP’s Immediate Office as Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator (AA) (Management).  EPA states that Lek has extensive experience managing and supporting a wide range of environmental and human health related programs.  Lek has worked at EPA previously; for eight years he was the Principal Deputy AA in EPA’s Office of...

On November 19, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) Stakeholder Forum will take place on December 4, 2018, from 12:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. (EST) and on December 5, 2018, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST) at the Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place, in Washington, D.C.  The RCC brings together senior regulatory officials, industry, and other members of the public from...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice on November 15, 2018, announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on the first draft chemical risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), as amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg).  The draft risk evaluation for Colour Index (C.I.) Pigment Violet 29 is intended to determine whether C.I. Pigment Violet 29 presents an...

The European Union (EU) released the EU US Roadmap Nanoinformatics 2030 on November 15, 2018.  The Roadmap, developed by scientists from the EU, U.S., and a few other countries, is a compilation of state-of-the-art commentaries from multiple interconnecting scientific fields, combined with issues involving nanomaterial risk assessment and governance.  The Roadmap states that in bringing these issues together into a coherent set of milestones, the authors address three recognized challenges...

The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Alexandra Dapolito Dunn to be the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator (AA) for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) on Thursday, November 29, 2018, at 10:30 a.m. (EST) in room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.  The hearing will be webcast and will be available on the EPW Committee website. Ms. Dunn has...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 13, 2018, the European Parliament (EP) announced its approval of new targets for renewables and energy efficiency rates to be achieved by 2030.  According to the press release, “by 2030, energy efficiency in the [European Union (EU)] has to have improved by 32.5%, whereas the share of energy from renewables should be at least 32% of the EU’s gross final consumption.”  Highlighting the crucial role of second generation biofuels rather...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 13, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the submission for review of an information collection request (ICR) on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  83 Fed. Reg. 56319.  The Federal Register notice states that purpose of this submission is to obtain OMB approval of an ICR that consolidates some existing collections.  By consolidating the existing collections and...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 9, 2018, DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, Steven Winberg, announced the new director of the DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL): Brian J. Anderson, Ph.D.  Dr. Anderson will serve, as of November 11, 2018, as the new director of NETL.  Dr. Anderson founded and headed the West Virginia University Energy Institute prior to taking the role of NETL director.  Winberg highlighted that Dr. Anderson’s background in...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 13, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the topic areas for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) for research and development (R&D) proposals for funding by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) in fiscal year (FY) 2019.  The topics include:  advanced manufacturing; bioenergy; buildings; fuel cells; geothermal; solar; vehicles; water; and wind.  They also...

On November 7, 2018, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published the tenth revision of The SCCS Notes of Guidance for the Testing of Cosmetic Ingredients and Their Safety Evaluation.  The guidance contains relevant information on the different aspects of testing and safety evaluation of cosmetic substances in Europe.  The document states that it is designed to provide guidance to public authorities and to the cosmetic industry to...

On November 7, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it was ordering Pool Water Products Inc. to stop selling an improperly registered pesticide, ALL CLEAR 3” Jumbo Chlorinating Tablets.  The announcement states that even though the ALL CLEAR 3” Jumbo Chlorinating Tablets product was registered with EPA, Pool Water Products was selling and distributing an unregistered version of the product made in China that has not been evaluated by EPA. EPA’s...

In September 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a consent agreement with Chevron USA, Inc. (Chevron) related to an alleged violation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  EPA’s issuance of a consent agreement for the alleged TSCA violation is not especially newsworthy.  Neither is the agreed upon penalty for the violation, which could be considered minor based on the penalty provisions allowed under TSCA.  What is newsworthy here is that...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 31, 2018, the Canadian National Energy Board released its 2018 report on energy supply and demand projections to 2040: “Canada’s Energy Future 2018: An Energy Market Assessment.” Based on a set of assumptions about technology, energy, climate, human behaviors, and the structure of the economy, the assessment identifies five key findings as follows: Canada’s energy demand growth is slowing, while the sources to meet these demands are becoming...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 6, 2018, Neste, a BRAG member, announced its partnership with Clariant to develop new sustainable material solutions. While Clariant concentrates on specialty chemicals, Neste consists of one of the leading companies providing renewable diesel and drop-in chemical solutions. In the announcement, Neste outlined the phases of the partnership, as follows:   Phase 1: The companies will start to replace fossil-fuel based ethylene and propylene with monomers from...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 5, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that a proposed collection of information on the Biosimilars User Fee Program was submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. FDA’s Biosimilars User Fee Program was established under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCI Act), which amended the Public Health Service Act through the addition...

By Kathleen M. Roberts Is your company engaged in Class 2 chemistries that are similar to existing Class 2 chemicals but are derived from an innovative bio-source? We are looking for pioneering companies working on new biobased Class 2 chemicals to assist in advancing an important project with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).   ISSUE:  While EPA sustainability goals would seemingly include adoption of improved biobased technologies, EPA’s policies under the...

On November 5, 2018, the European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) announced the availability of the NANoREG Toolbox, an inventory of publicly available tools for the safety assessment of nanomaterials.  As reported in our October 5, 2017, blog item, JRC first published the inventory as a Microsoft Excel®-based dataset.  JRC scientists have now published an article, “An inventory of ready-to-use and publicly available tools for the safety assessment of nanomaterials,”...

On November 1, 2018, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) launched a podcast called All Things Chemical™ that will engage listeners in intelligent, insightful conversation about everything related to industrial, pesticidal, and specialty chemicals and the law and business issues surrounding chemicals.  B&C’s talented team of lawyers, scientists, and consultants will keep listeners abreast of the changing world of both domestic and international chemical regulation and...

On October 26, 2018, the European Commission (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published its final opinion on colloidal silver (nano).  According to the final opinion, the EC received 63 notifications of cosmetic products containing colloidal silver in nano form.  The final opinion states that, according to the applicants, the ingredient is used in nano uncoated form both in leave-on and rinse-off oral cosmetics products, including toothpastes and skin care products, with a...

On October 30, 2018, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) held a webinar on its revised draft document entitled Current Intelligence Bulletin:  Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials.  The meeting agenda and slide presentation are available in the docket, as well as a list of meeting attendees.  As reported in our September 19, 2018, blog item, the revised draft Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) provides an updated scientific...

On October 17, 2018, the Trump Administration published its Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Regulatory Agenda).  There are many interesting entries, some of which are flagged here. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed implementing Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) amendments to enhance public health and chemical safety as one of its top priorities.  According to EPA, the amendments to TSCA that were enacted in June 2016...

On October 31, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is extending the registration of dicamba for two years for “over-the-top” use (application to growing plants) to control weeds in fields for cotton and soybean plants genetically engineered to resist dicamba.  EPA states that the registration for these dicamba products will expire on December 20, 2020, unless EPA decides to further extend it.  EPA states that the label changes described below...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 30, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a statement by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., and FDA Deputy Commissioner Anna Abram regarding FDA’s new action plan to advance plant and animal biotechnology innovation.  Aimed at ensuring the safety of plant and animal biotechnology products and avoiding unnecessary barriers to future innovation, the Action Plan focuses on three key priorities: Advancing public health by promoting...

By Lynn L. Bergeson In October 2018, DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) published a report called “Cell-Free Synthetic Biology and Biocatalysis:  Prototyping and Conversion Platforms.”  The report consists of a summary from discussions held on a listening day by BETO in Denver, Colorado, in 2017.  The public meeting was intended to discuss research and development opportunities related to cell-free synthetic biology and biocatalysis, and how these...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 30, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the topics for 2019 funding opportunities.  Amongst the program offices that are participating in this solicitation, is the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, who will be hosting an informational webinar on November 6, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. (EST) as an opportunity to ask the DOE Program Managers any questions about DOE funding opportunities.  The 90-minute webinar requires registration...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 30, 2018, Earthjustice and the Clean Air Task Force submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a petition “to amend its ‘aggregate compliance’ approach to the definition of biomass under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) … to prevent the conversion of native grasslands.”  The petition was filed on behalf of 11 organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club, and urges EPA’s...

The European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) posted a report on the October 5-6, 2017, “NanoReg2 Regulatory Preparedness for Innovation in Nanotechnology Workshop.”  Regulatory preparedness was defined at the workshop as the regulators’ timely awareness of innovations and the regulators’ actions to check whether present legislation covers all safety aspects of each innovation, including initiating revision of the legislation as appropriate.  Achieving...

The European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) announced publication of a paper introducing a new standardized testing procedure for nanomaterial environmental toxicity, “Introducing a new standardized nanomaterial environmental toxicity screening testing procedure, ISO/TS 20787:  aquatic toxicity assessment of manufactured nanomaterials in saltwater lakes using Artemia sp. nauplii.”  The abstract states that the testing procedure is intended to generate more reliable and...

In August 2018, Safe Work Australia (SWA) issued a national guide on classifying hazardous chemicals.  SWA intends the guidance for manufacturers and importers of substances, mixtures, and articles who have a duty under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act and Regulations to classify them.  SWA suggests that the guidance may also be useful for suppliers, persons undertaking business and undertakings, workers, and other persons involved with hazardous chemicals.  The guidance...

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) published a request for information (RFI) on October 9, 2018, seeking comment on how the federal government, under the auspices of the Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC), may reduce or eliminate unnecessary regulatory differences between the U.S. and Canada.  According to the RFI, this information may inform agencies’ development of regulatory reform proposals to modify or repeal existing agency requirements to increase efficiency...

B&C is launching a podcast November 1, 2018.  It’s called All Things Chemical™ and it will engage listeners in intelligent, insightful conversation about everything related to industrial, pesticidal, and specialty chemicals and the law and business issues surrounding chemicals. B&C’s talented team of lawyers, scientists, and consultants will keep listeners abreast of the changing world of both domestic and international chemical regulation and provide analysis of the many...

By Lynn L. Bergeson In the beginning of October 2018, researchers from the University of California – Berkeley published a paper in Nature Nanotechnology that explains how a new bacterium can produce fuels through artificial photosynthesis upon being fed gold. The formerly undiscovered bacterium, Moorella thermoacetica, allows for the development of photosynthetic biohybrid systems (PBS), linking inorganic light with preassembled biosynthetic pathways. The addition of gold nanoclusters,...

By Lynn L. Bergeson The European Commission (EC) announced on October 16, 2018, the launch of a new web-based tool called BioWatch. Developed by BIOWAYS, a project funded by the European Union (EU), this new tool expands BIOWAYS’ efforts in raising awareness of biobased products and their social, economic, and environmental benefits. BioWatch consists of “an interactive online platform that provides projects in the bioeconomy sector with a free service to position themselves...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 16, 2018, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs released the Trump Administration’s Fall 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Agenda). The Agenda aims to report on actions that administrative agencies, such as EPA, plan to put forward in the near- and long-terms. As its name implies, the Agenda includes both regulatory and deregulatory actions and attempts to justify any burden associated with these actions. According to its...

On October 19, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted the Final Work Plan (FWP) for the nanosilver registration review process under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).  The FWP explains what the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) “knows about nanosilver generally, highlighting anticipated data and assessment needs for each unique nanosilver chemistry, identifying the types of information that would be especially useful to the...

On October 19, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted the Final Work Plan (FWP) for the nanosilver registration review process under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The FWP explains what the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) “knows about nanosilver generally, highlighting anticipated data and assessment needs for each unique nanosilver chemistry, identifying the types of information that would be especially useful to the Agency...

On October 10, 2018, EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) announced that it will be holding a public meeting of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC) on October 31, 2018, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and that on  Read More Share