Blogs

On August 14, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of its Pesticide App for Label Mitigations (PALM), which is described as an “easy-to-use, mobile-friendly tool to serve as a one-stop shop that helps farmers and applicators use EPA’s mitigation menu to reduce pesticide exposure to nontarget species from agricultural crop uses.” According to EPA, this new tool will allow farmers to access quickly mitigation information from the final Insecticide...

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced on August 14, 2025, a WatchBlog item entitled “EPA’s New Chemicals Program Could Improve Safety If Better Managed” that examines GAO’s January 2025 report on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) New Chemicals Program (NCP). According to GAO, EPA assesses new chemicals using a 13-step process that includes an eco hazard review, a human health hazard review, and several other risks assessments. In its January 2025...

On August 1, 2025, Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) reintroduced the bipartisan Biomanufacturing and Jobs Act (S. 2654). According to Slotkin’s August 6, 2025, press release, the bill would “create jobs and create new markets for our farmers by strengthening the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) BioPreferred program, a program designed to promote the use of domestic biobased products.” The press release states...

On August 13, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the relaunch of EPA’s Guidance Portal, “a streamlined website for accessing important guidance documents related to air quality, water protection, hazardous waste management, and more.” According to EPA, the website serves as a resource for all guidance documents managed across EPA's headquarters environmental programs. EPA designed the website to be a “one-stop shop to help users and small businesses easily and...

The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), in force since January 1, 2024, mandates that “relevant commodities” linked to deforestation -- including cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, and wood -- must not enter the European Union (EU) market unless documented as deforestation-free. A central pillar of the EUDR is its Country Classification List, placing nations into low-risk, standard-risk, or high-risk categories based on governance quality, deforestation rates, and,...

On August 11, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota granted the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) motion to dismiss the Cookware Sustainability Alliance’s (CSA) suit for failure to state a claim. CSA v. Kessler (No. 0:25-cv-00041). As reported in our January 14, 2025, blog item, CSA filed suit in January 2025, claiming that Minnesota’s January 1, 2025, ban on the sale of cookware containing intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 6, 2025, the availability of the draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluations for the phthalates butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP) for public comment. 90 Fed. Reg. 37855. According to EPA, the purpose of TSCA risk evaluations is to determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment under the conditions of use (COU), including...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 8, 2025, that it seeks self-nominations from small businesses, governments, and not-for-profits to participate as Small Entity Representatives (SER) providing advice and recommendations for two separate Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panels. One SBAR Panel will focus on EPA’s development of a proposed rule to address unreasonable risk identified in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation for asbestos part...

On August 25, 2025, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) will hold a pre-rulemaking stakeholder meeting on its implementation of the prohibitions on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in apparel. NYS DEC will present an overview of the enacted law, codified at Section 37-0121 of the Environmental Conservation Law, and discuss the conceptual framework for regulating PFAS in apparel that it is considering for the rulemaking. NYS DEC notes that this will be...

The European Commission (EC) began a public consultation on August 4, 2025, on the European Biotech Act in the form of an online questionnaire. According to the EC, the aim is to gather evidence and views from stakeholders across all relevant sectors of biotechnology and biomanufacturing, including the medical and pharmaceutical, agricultural, food and feed, industrial, environmental, and marine sectors. The EC states that stakeholder feedback is crucial for identifying the most important...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 11, 2025, the results of process improvements to accelerate the review of Low Volume Exemptions (LVE) in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) New Chemicals Program. At the end of March 2025, EPA identified 79 LVEs waiting for review and established a dedicated team of risk assessors. EPA states that it completed the risk assessments and made preliminary decisions for all 79 cases during April and May 2025. According to EPA, 80...

On August 4, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a notice of determinations that modifies the list of taxable substances to include the following 21 substances: polyphenylene sulfide, cellulose acetate (degree of substitution = 1.5-2.0), 4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol-epichlorohydrin copolymer, nylon 6, caprolactam, methyl ethyl ketoxime, iso-butanol, diethylene glycol monomethyl ether, ethylene glycol phenyl ether, methoxytriglycol, propylene glycol methyl ether acetate, propylene...

On August 1, 2025, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a judgment upholding the 2022 decision of the General Court annulling the 2019 harmonized classification and labeling of titanium dioxide as a carcinogenic substance by inhalation in certain powder forms. As reported in our December 6, 2022, memorandum, the court annulled the European Commission’s (EC) decision to classify titanium dioxide as a suspected human carcinogen. The French government and the EC appealed the decision,...

As reported in our February 13, 2025, blog item, on January 17, 2025, the Biden U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a notice of appeal of the September 2024 lower court decision finding that the plaintiffs established by a preponderance of the evidence that the levels of fluoride typical in drinking water in the United States pose an unreasonable risk of injury to the health of the public. Food & Water Watch v. EPA (No. 25-384). At that time, it was unknown how the Trump EPA...

On August 4, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a proposed rule entitled “Further Reconsideration of Procedures for Chemical Risk Evaluation Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).” As reported in our March 14, 2025, memorandum, on March 10, 2025, EPA announced its intent to reconsider the May 2024 rule amending the procedural framework rule for conducting TSCA risk evaluations. According to EPA’s March 10,...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on July 8, 2025, that it has received a petition from Bayer CropScience seeking a determination of nonregulated status for MON 95275 maize (corn) that has been developed using genetic engineering to produce two insecticidal proteins and a double-stranded RNA transcript to provide protection from feeding damage caused by targeted coleopteran (corn rootworm) insect pests. 90 Fed. Reg. 30035....

On July 29, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final significant use rules (SNUR) for certain chemical substances, including graphene nanoplatelets (generic), that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN) and a Microbial Commercial Activity Notice (MCAN) and are also subject to an Order issued by EPA pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 90 Fed. Reg. 35624. The SNURs require persons who intend to manufacture (including import) or process any of the...

On July 1, 2025, the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) announced a new position paper and five-point action plan that will “help deliver a [European Union (EU)] Bioeconomy Strategy that supports the scale-up of bio-based chemistry, biomanufacturing, and achieve industrial transformation while adhering to planetary boundaries.” According to Cefic, the European Commission (EC) should mainstream revision of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy into all forthcoming legislations. The revision...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on August 1, 2025, the opening of a 30-day public comment period for stakeholders to provide feedback on USDA’s reorganization plan, as outlined in the July 24, 2025, memorandum issued by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins. According to the press release, the reorganization proposal reflects President Trump’s commitment to relocate federal agencies beyond the national capital region, reduce bureaucracy, and strengthen USDA’s...

On July 31, 2025, Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced bipartisan legislation to enhance the ability of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program to support the development of advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals, and biobased products. According to Klobuchar’s July 31, 2025, press release, the Agricultural Biorefinery Innovation and Opportunity (Ag BIO) Act will update the...