Blogs

The First International Conference on Agricultural Law was held jointly by the Agricultural Law Section of the International Bar Association (IBA), Project Pravo-Justice, and the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) on September, 23-24, 2021. This conference provided a unique review of current legal issues in agriculture, with leading European and Ukrainian experts sharing their experience on Land reform in Ukraine and best practices worldwide; Climate change, the European Union (EU) Green...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule on September 28, 2021, that would codify the definition of “parent company” for purposes of reporting to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). 86 Fed. Reg. 53577. Although the existing regulation requires a facility reporting to TRI to identify its parent company in annual reporting forms, no codified definition of this data element exists. EPA states that a codified definition of parent company would allow it to...

On September 22, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized 33 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners across 16 states and the District of Columbia for achievement in the design, manufacture, selection, and use of products with safer chemicals. The Safer Choice program helps consumers and purchasers for facilities, such as schools and office buildings, find products that perform and are safer for human health and the environment. According to EPA, the work...

By Lynn L. Bergeson  On September 20, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the availability of its revised final guidance for industry on biosimilar development and the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCI Act). Titled “Questions and Answers on Biosimilar Development and the BPCI Act,” the revised guidance aims to inform prospective applicants and facilitate the development of proposed biosimilars and proposed interchangeable...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 24, 2021, that it is extending the submission deadline for manufacturers (including importers) of 50 chemicals to report data from certain unpublished health and safety studies. The deadline for the reporting rule was originally September 27, 2021, and EPA has extended the deadline until December 1, 2021, for 20 of the 50 chemicals and to January 25, 2022, for 30 of the 50 chemicals. The 50 chemicals...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On September 22, 2021, as part of Pollution Prevention Week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized 33 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners for their achievements in design, manufacture, selection, and use of products with safer chemicals. Michal Freedhoff, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), commented on the winners’ achievements,...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to offer the recording, slides, and written Question and Answer (Q&A) document from our “PFAS Reporting Rules -- What Every Company Needs to Know” webinar, focusing on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed reporting rules for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), presented by B&C Managing Partner Lynn L. Bergeson and Director of Chemistry Richard E. Engler, Ph.D. Do you wonder if the PFAS...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On September 15, 2021, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing on several U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nominees, including Amanda Howe, nominated for Assistant Administrator for Mission Support, and David Uhlmann, nominated for Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Amanda Howe has a long history of public service, including such roles as the Chief Operating Officer for the now-Vice President, Kamala...

This week's All Things Chemical® Podcast will be of interest to readers of the TSCAblog®. A brief description of the episode written by Lynn L. Bergeson is below. This week I sat down with Richard E. Engler, Ph..D., Director of Chemistry with Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and The Acta Group (Acta®), to discuss the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) continuing struggle to regulate certain persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT)...

On September 15, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is terminating the Temporary Amendment to Pesticide Registration (PR) Notice 98-10, effective September 15, 2022. EPA states that it is providing 12 months’ notice to registrants before the termination takes effect to give registrants time to adjust their contractual commitments. Registrants must ensure that by September 15, 2022, their product is produced using a source of active...

On September 17, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule amending the regulations applicable to phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)) promulgated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 86 Fed. Reg. 51823. Specifically, EPA is extending the compliance date applicable to the processing and distribution in commerce of certain PIP (3:1)-containing articles, and the PIP (3:1) used to make those articles, from March 8, 2021, to March 8, 2022....

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) held a virtual public meeting on September 15, 2021, on its forthcoming regulations to implement the Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Products Law. New York’s Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) Article 37 Title 9 establishes an ingredient disclosure program and prohibits certain chemicals in children’s products. ECL Article 37 instructs NYS DEC to promulgate lists of chemicals of concern and high priority chemicals that...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. As part of a White House roundtable to launch the Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Grand Challenge to decarbonize the aviation sector by 2050, on September 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the availability of $64.7 million in funding for projects focused on the production of cost-effective and low-carbon biofuels. DOE aims to advance technologies to replace petroleum fuels used in heavy-duty forms of...

The Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) announced on August 9, 2021, publication of a study entitled Characterization of Unintentionally Released Nanometric Particles in Various Workplaces. The study characterizes unintentionally released nanoparticles (URNP) found in six workplaces — an underground mine, a truck repair shop, an underground transportation network, a foundry, a machine shop, and a wax casting shop — on the basis of...

On September 7, 2021, the European Commission (EC) Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) posted a preliminary opinion on “Draft Environmental Quality Standards for Priority Substances under the Water Framework Directive” for silver and its compounds. The Water Framework Directive requires the EC to identify priority substances among those presenting significant risk to or via the aquatic environment and to set environmental quality standards (EQS) for...

Registration has opened for a September 22, 2021, webinar held by the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) on “What We Know about NanoEHS: Measurement and Characterization.” The webinar’s speakers will explore the impact of advances in nanomaterial measurement and characterization on the safe and responsible development of nanotechnology. Vincent Hackley, Research Chemist, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will moderate. The panel will include:...

In early July 1996, I was returning on a flight from Amman, Jordan, wondering what kind of negotiation we in the Clinton Administration faced in completing the legislative text of what became the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). (I had been asked to go to Jordan to visit the Jordanian pesticide regulatory program by a friend who was a senior official at the State Department. The result of my visit may have played a very, very small role in the Middle East peace process -- but that is another...

On August 31, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final scope documents for the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluations of diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and diisononyl phthalate (DINP). 86 Fed. Reg. 48695; 86 Fed. Reg. 48693. In its August 31, 2021, press release, EPA notes that both DIDP and DINP “belong to a family of chemicals called phthalates and are commonly used as plasticizers in the production of plastic and...

WEBINARThursday, September 9, 202111:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (EDT)Register Now Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to present a complimentary webinar focused on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulations on September 9, 2021, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (EDT). B&C Managing Partner Lynn L. Bergeson and Director of Chemistry Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., will discuss three actions recently...

By Lynn L. Bergeson    On August 27, 2021, DOE’s EERE, in partnership with the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Institute (CESMII), announced the selections of four new Smart Manufacturing Innovation Centers (SMICs). SMICs offer specialized training and direct industry engagement to help U.S. manufacturers implement smart manufacturing technologies to optimize their use of materials and energy. CESMII, an institute funded by DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, focuses...