All Knowledge & Insights By Date

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began the Herculean task of aligning the U.S.’s Hazardous Communication Standard (HCS) with the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) in September 2009. GHS provides harmonized criteria for classifying chemicals according to their health and physical hazards, and specifies hazard communication elements for labeling and creating safety data sheets (SDS)....

We are pleased to announce that Lynn L. Bergeson will be speaking at the upcoming conference entitled “Environmental Regulation and Commercial Implications 2010: How the New Administration, Congress and the Courts Have Changed the Rules.” The conference will be held in New York City on May 7, 2010, and in San Francisco on May 18, 2010. The conference will be broadcast live on the Internet on May 7, 2010. Since the election of President Barack Obama and the 111th Congress,...

On April 16, 2010, the American Law Institute (ALI) and American Bar Association (ABA) will hold an advanced one-day course of study on chemical control law and policy. The course will examine what practitioners need to know about the growing significance of industrial and pesticide chemical control law and regulation, providing updates on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and enforcement priorities for 2010, and a roundup on...

Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its final clarification under which certain activated phosphors that are not on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(b) Chemical Substance Inventory (TSCA Inventory) will be considered to be “new” chemical substances under TSCA Section 5, and thus will be subject to applicable notification requirements under TSCA Section 5. According to EPA, the clarification is necessary because EPA’s statements in...

On February 18, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report entitled EPA Needs a Coordinated Plan to Oversee Its Toxic Substances Control Act Responsibilities, urging EPA to coordinate better risk assessment and oversight activities by establishing a management plan that contains new goals and measures that demonstrate the results of Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) and Office of Enforcement and Compliance...

On February 19, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed important revisions to the procedures for development of enforceable consent agreements (ECA) to generate test data under Section 4 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 75 Fed. Reg. 7428 (Feb. 19, 2010). The proposed rule includes some sweeping changes for when and how negotiations will be initiated, conducted, and concluded, and limits the timeframe within which these activities will take place. Companies that...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C) is pleased to announce it will moderate and participate in an American Bar Association Quick Teleconference entitled “Endocrine Disruptors: The Art, Law, and Science of Responding to Testing Orders,” on March 3, 2010, at 12:00 p.m. (EST). Speakers include: James V. Aidala, B&C; David Berol, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); James C. Lamb, Ph.D., Exponent; and Robert G. Perlis, EPA. Register for the teleconference online....

In a February 18, 2010, Politics Daily article, Lynn L. Bergeson commented on regulations being developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that would increase reporting of nanomaterial products.  Bergeson stated that she expects EPA to propose that businesses provide data only for new products, and that those on the market would be grandfathered in....

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates’ (SOCMA) Global Chemical Regulations Conference and Exhibition being held in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 29-31, 2010. For more than 20 years, the Global Chemical Regulations Conference has provided a unique educational opportunity for chemical industry professionals. Participation in this conference provides attendees with...

As we reported last month, the Sustainability and Green Procurement Advisory Council (Advisory Council) of the New York Interagency Committee on Sustainability and Green Procurement (Interagency Committee) voted 9-1 to recommend creating a “chemical avoidance list” that would be a list of chemicals that New York government agencies should avoid buying. The list would comply with Governor David Paterson’s 2008 Executive Order directing state agencies, public authorities, and...

Safety Compliance Issues and Related Legislative, Regulatory, and Policy Issues Christopher R. Bryant, previously with the American Chemistry Council, has joined Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. and its consulting affiliates, The Acta Group, L.L.C. (Acta) and The Acta Group EU, Ltd (Acta EU). Mr. Bryant has over 20 years of experience in environmental, health, and safety (EHS) compliance and legislative, regulatory, and policy issues. Mr. Bryant was the Managing Director of the Chemical Products...

The February 9, 2010, issue of InsideEPA’s Toxics Regulation News references Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s December 31, 2009, memorandum regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s chemical action plans....

In the February 9, 2010, issue of BNA Daily Environment Report, Lynn L. Bergeson states that the recommendations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) create regulatory uncertainty, which will discourage companies hoping to enter the antimicrobial market for products containing nanosilver and other nanoscale metals. According to Bergeson, while SAP’s recommendations urge EPA to obtain additional information on nanosilver before...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) has released the minutes of its November 3-5, 2009, meeting regarding evaluation of the hazard and exposure associated with nanosilver and other nanometal pesticide products. Before summarizing the SAP’s primary conclusions and recommendations, we note a few general observations. First, the SAP final recommendations address nanosilver almost entirely, and little or no mention is made of “nanometal...

Today the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health held a hearing entitled “Current Science on Public Exposures to Toxic Chemicals.” Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), Chair of the Subcommittee, criticized the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for failing to provide the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the necessary authority to protect the public from unsafe chemicals. Lautenberg stated that he intends...

Each Brings Extensive Experience in International Chemical Regulatory Issues The Acta Group EU, Ltd (Acta EU) is pleased to announce the addition of Ruth Downes, Kevin Goulden, and Tabitha Harrison to its European Union consulting practice. Their combined extensive knowledge of international chemical and health and safety regulatory programs will supplement the skill sets of other Acta EU professionals. Ms. Downes specializes in Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and...

A business’ ability to claim information as confidential when submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may soon be at risk, based on several EPA initiatives rolled out over the past year. As Congress gears up for Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) legislative reform, stakeholders are preparing for changes in the scope of confidential business information (CBI) protection under TSCA....

EPA has put itself on the path toward greenhouse gas regulation, but in Congress, the courts, and the international community, the debate rages on. On Dec. 7, 2009, EPA moved one step closer to imposing the first ever set of enforceable greenhouse gas (GHG) standards on tailpipe emissions from vehicles, and a requirement that large power plants and industrial emitters install best available control technology (BACT) to reduce emissions....

On January 26, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) announced that it intends to issue a cancellation order for the pesticide spirotetramat pursuant to Section 6(a)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). A comment period is now open on the existing stocks provisions of the planned cancellation order. Comments are due February 8, 2010. EPA states that, on December 23, 2009, the U.S. District Court for the...

Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated a final rule amending the polymer exemption rule, which provides an exemption from the premanufacture notification (PMN) requirements of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The amendment excludes from eligibility polymers containing as an integral part of their composition, except as impurities, certain perfluoroalkyl moieties consisting of a CF3- or longer chain length. This exclusion includes polymers that contain any one or...