By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton On June 16, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the winners of the 2020 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. EPA states that this year’s winners “have developed new and innovative green chemistry technologies that turn potential environmental challenges into business opportunities, spurring innovation and economic development.” The 2020 winners and their innovative technologies are: Genomatica,...
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. As we are now into June, Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) aficionados will be quick to note that “new TSCA” is now almost four years old. Passage in June 2016 of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act occasioned EPA’s implementation of a...
The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) posted a Nanopinion on June 12, 2020, entitled “Pigments: The oldest nanomaterials in human history facing modern day challenges.” Dr. Heike Liewald, Managing Director, Eurocolour e.V., and Giuliana Beck, Advisor, German association of producers of pigments and fillers, describe how the introduction of nano-specific requirements in statutes has significantly increased the regulatory burden. The authors state that...
On June 8, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the issuance of an existing stocks order under Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 6(a)(1) governing further sale, distribution, and use of existing stocks of three reduced volatility dicamba products (XtendiMax®, EngeniaTM, and FeXapanTM) with conditional registrations that were vacated by the June 3, 2020, decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in National Family...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on June 12, 2020, that it is opening a public comment period for a manufacturer-requested risk evaluation of octamethylcyclotetra-siloxane (D4), a chemical used to make other silicone chemicals and as an ingredient in some personal care products. EPA states that the manufacturer-requested risk evaluation of D4 is the third evaluation of this kind to be requested under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA...
June 12, 2020
Bench Trial in Challenge to EPA’s Denial of Fluoride Petition Will Resume on June 15 and Is Available Online
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California began hearing oral arguments on June 8, 2020, in a case seeking a rulemaking under Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to prohibit the addition of fluoridation chemicals to drinking water supplies. Food & Water Watch, Inc. v. EPA, Case No. 3:17-cv-02162-EMC. The plaintiffs filed suit following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) denial of a TSCA Section 21 petition requesting it...
By Lynn L. Bergeson From June 15-19, 2020, the American Chemical Society (ACS) will be hosting its annual Green Chemistry and Engineering (GC&E) Conference virtually. On June 15, 2020, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (EDT), during the “Enabling a Circular Economy for Materials in the Consumer Goods Industry,” Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., B&C’s Director of Chemistry, will proudly present his abstract titled “Road-map for Innovators – Commercialization in a Circular...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On June 4, 2020, the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority (MASBDA) announced the creation of the Biofuel Infrastructure Program (BIP). Designed to increase the availability of higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel in Missouri, BIP partners with private entities to support biofuel producers in applying for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development’s Higher Blends Infrastructure Investment Program (HBIIP) funding. The MASBDA Board...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On June 11, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that its Pollution Prevention (P2) Awards Program is planning to submit an information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Before proceeding with the ICR, however, EPA is soliciting public comments on specific aspects of the proposed ICR. EPA’s P2 Program consists of a voluntary program that encourages businesses and facilities to...
June 10, 2020
France Intends to Improve the Identification and Assessment of Manufactured Nanomaterials in Food
On June 9, 2020, the French National Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) issued a press release, in French, proposing an inventory of manufactured nanomaterials in food. According to ANSES, manufactured nanomaterials are used in food: ANSES used data published in the scientific literature to identify 37 substances used as food additives or ingredients for which it considers that the presence of nanoparticles is proven (seven substances: calcium...
On June 3, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a final significant new use rule (SNUR) on long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylate (LCPFAC) and perfluoroalkyl sulfonate (PFAS) chemical substances. On March 3, 2020, EPA published a proposed supplemental SNUR for LCPFAC chemical substances that would make inapplicable the exemption for persons who import a subset of LCPFAC chemical substances as part of surface...
June 9, 2020
EPA OIG Report States Further Efforts Needed to Uphold Scientific Integrity Policy at EPA
On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report entitled Further Efforts Needed to Uphold Scientific Integrity Policy at EPA. OIG conducted an Agency-wide survey to determine whether EPA’s Scientific Integrity Policy is being implemented as intended to ensure scientific integrity throughout EPA. OIG received 4,320 responses (a 23.5 percent response rate), showing that 3,987 respondents were aware of or had some...
June 9, 2020
NIA Survey on “Advanced Materials” Terminology and Relevance to Nanomaterials Closes on June 12
The Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) began a survey on June 4, 2020, inviting commercial actors within the nanomaterials arena (producers, users, and professional providers) to contribute their organization’s perception and use of the term “Advanced Materials.” According to NIA, there is increasing policy focus on the term “Advanced Materials,” with national governments and international frameworks starting to discuss potential safety and regulatory...
The U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) will hold a webinar on June 24, 2020, on “Advances in self-powered wearable sensors: A biofuel-powered electronic skin.” NNI states that the development and commercialization of self-powered, battery-free sensors with wireless capabilities would represent a significant step toward meeting the requirements for next-generation biosensors, medical devices, and robotics. Dr. Wei Gao, California Institute of Technology, will...
June 6, 2020
Ninth Circuit Vacates EPA’s Renewal of Conditional Registrations for Lower Volatility Dicamba Formulations
On June 3, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit) issued an opinion in National Family Farm Coalition v. EPA, No. 19-70115, vacating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2018 decisions to extend the conditional registrations for three reduced volatility dicamba herbicides, Bayer’s XtendiMax, Corteva’s FeXapan, and BASF’s Engenia. The manufacturers of these dicamba products designed them to facilitate control of glyphosate...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On June 30, 2020, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (EDT),the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will host a free regulatory training for industry on bioanalysis requirements and expectations. Focused on how FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) approaches various issues in bioanalysis, the workshop aims to provide participants with a better understanding of how FDA performs bioanalysis. Topics to be covered, among others, include: Bioanalytical method...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On June 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announced that it will be hosting a public virtual workshop titled “Workshop on Predictive Models and High Performance Computing as Tools to Accelerate the Scaling-up of New Bio-Based Fuels.” The goal is to determine if predictive models and high performance computing can and should be used to reduce biotechnology uncertainty and accelerate scaling-up...
By Lynn L. Bergeson EPA announced on June 1, 2020, the availability of the latest Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory. EPA notes that this biannual update to the public TSCA Inventory is part of its regular posting of non-confidential TSCA Inventory data. EPA plans the next regular update of the Inventory for early 2021. According to EPA, the Inventory contains 86,405 chemicals, of which 41,587 are active in the United States commerce. Other updates...
June 5, 2020
EPA Issues Pre-Publication Version Of Its Proposed Anti-Backsliding Determination For Renewable Fuel
By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 29, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a pre-publication version of a proposed anti-backsliding determination that no additional measures are necessary pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 211(v) to mitigate the adverse air quality impacts of renewable fuel volumes required under CAA Section 211(o). The proposed determination will be published in the Federal Register for a 30-day comment period. CAA Section 211 requires EPA to...
The Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) will hold a webinar on July 7, 2020, on “Introducing the NanoHarmony project.” Funded through Horizon 2020, NanoHarmony began on April 1, 2020. NanoHarmony brings together 14 expert partners from ten European countries and will work alongside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to support the development of test guidelines and guidance documents for...