Blogs

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on May 11, 2023, that it will hold a webinar on June 7, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) on its proposed rule under Section 6(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that would ban all consumer uses and most commercial uses of methylene chloride, “a chemical in commercial and consumer products known to cause serious health risks and even death.” As reported in our April 25, 2023, memorandum, EPA proposes prohibitions and...

On May 11, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a webinar on its Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution (Draft Strategy). As reported in our May 2, 2023, memorandum, EPA states in its April 21, 2023, press release that the Draft Strategy includes “ambitious actions to eliminate the release of plastic and other waste from land-based sources into the environment by 2040.” During the webinar, EPA provided an overview of the Draft...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on May 10, 2023, that it released the tentative agenda for its May 23, 2023, workshop on “Talking Trash: Recyclable Claims and the Green Guides.” The workshop will examine FTC’s guidance on “recyclable” advertising claims as part of its ongoing review of the Guides for Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (Green Guides). The workshop is free and open to the public, and pre-registration is not required. FTC states that the...

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will hold two public webinars providing an overview of the key activities of U.S. government agencies in tackling the challenge of plastic waste in the environment. NNI states that the plastic waste issue includes more than just solid waste accumulation. According to NNI, the breakdown of bulk plastics to micro- and nanoscale particles in the environment “has further challenged efforts to understand the potential human and environmental impacts of...

According to a May 6, 2023, Canada Gazette notice, the Minister of the Environment, pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA), intends to unmask the identities of 132 substances currently on Part 3 of the Domestic Substances List (DSL) in accordance with the Approach to disclose confidential information and promote transparency in chemicals. The annexed proposed Order includes the masked names and confidential accession numbers of the substances proposed for...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton   The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) will host a workshop on “Transitioning to a Sustainable, Circular Economy for Plastics.” The June 8-9, 2023, workshop will convene stakeholders for a discussion of the current challenges and opportunities in transitioning to a sustainable domestic economy for plastics. According to DOE, it...

On May 2, 2023, the European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) announced that it published a guidance document entitled Guidance on the implementation of the Commission Recommendation 2022/C 229/01 on the definition of nanomaterial. As reported in our June 10, 2022, blog item, in June 2022, the EC published a new Recommendation aimed at harmonizing the interpretation of the term “nanomaterial” in regulatory contexts. The updated definition of nanomaterials...

Washington D.C. law firm Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) has launched the PFAS News and Information web page. Continuing B&C’s tradition of providing reliable information and analysis of the most pressing chemical issues of the day, this web page provides constantly updated resources to help those in the chemicals and chemical products industries understand what they need to know about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) developments and what it means to their...

The Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) recently announced the release of its PFAS Prevention Model Act, which is intended to reduce the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). According to NEWMOA, it worked with a group of state officials from the northeast to develop the draft legislation. NEWMOA states that the goals of the draft legislation are to: NEWMOA states that the model “provides a comprehensive framework to help jurisdictions...

On May 3, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its intent to extend the January 6, 2023, compliance date on the prohibition on the processing and distribution of decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) for use in wire and cable insulation in nuclear power generation facilities, and decaBDE-containing wire and cable insulation. As reported in our December 23, 2020, memorandum, decaBDE is one of the persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals that are...