In late March, EPA and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) proposed a rule that would dramatically revise and expand the reach of the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) jurisdiction. Unquestionably, determining the scope of the CWA’s jurisdiction, particularly over streams and tributaries, has become confusing and complex following several Supreme Court decisions and various EPA interpretations issued in response to these decisions over the years. For nearly a decade, Congress, state and local officials,...
How to address and manage potential risks posed by pesticide “drift” — the unintentional movement of some level of pesticide outside of the intended area of application — has long been a challenging, complex regulatory policy issue. It is difficult to dispute that when applying a pesticide product some small amount may, in some circumstances, move off-site. In other words: “drift happens.” The issue quickly becomes whether, from a risk management perspective, the amount of...
May 29, 2014
Kathleen M. Roberts in Biofuels Digest: “How To Make Friends and Win EPA Approvals: tips for biobased companies.”
On Thursday, May 29, 2014, Biofuels Digest published an article by Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG™) Executive Director Kathleen Roberts titled “How to Make Friends and Win EPA Approvals: tips for biobased chemicals.” A copy of the article is available online. The article highlights the B&C© affiliate BRAG™ and the session it co-presented with B&C during the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s World Congress on...
May 29, 2014
“Legal Limit May Drive Novel Voluntary Plan In EPA’s TSCA Fracking Rule” Cites B&C Commentary
An article in the May 30, 2014 edition of Inside EPA, “Legal Limit May Drive Novel Voluntary Plan In EPA’s TSCA Fracking Rule,” featured commentary by B&C on EPA’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to seek comment on the information that should be reported or disclosed for hydraulic fracturing chemical substances and mixtures and the mechanism for obtaining this information. “In a May 20 analysis of the ANPR, the law firm Bergeson & Campbell also flags...
In last week’s Special Report on Scale-up in Industrial Biotechnology, the Digest noted that a consistent lesson shared by leading biotech heavyweights at the BIO World Congress scale-up session is to “avoid an afterthought approach to regulatory compliance.” As luck and good scheduling would have it, after lunch on the same day, savvy conference-goers got up-close-and-personal with two senior U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulators and a seasoned company executive...
May 28, 2014
Inside EPA features B&C commentary in “Legal Limit May Drive Novel Voluntary Plan In EPA’s TSCA Fracking Rule.”
“In a May 20 analysis of the ANPR, the law firm Bergeson & Campbell also flags the ‘processors’ issue, saying the notice raises a host questions relating to ‘significant and difficult legal, procedural and policy issues. Noting that the ANPR includes service companies in its discussion of the companies that may be subject to Section 8 reporting, which ordinarily would not apply to ‘users,’ the analysis says, that though such service providers may ‘process’ the...
May 22, 2014
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Spotlight Shines on Plant Safety,” Chemical Processing, May 22, 2014.
Chemical plant safety is once again in the limelight due to some high profile and very public catastrophes. On January 3, 2014, a federal working group created by the Obama administration’s Executive Order (EO) 13650 issued a set of preliminary options intended to improve chemical plant safety and security. This is a priority topic commanding considerable attention and readers should be aware of and engaged in these developments. This column explains why....
May 21, 2014
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Nanotechnology: From Laboratories to Commercial Products
The House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology held a hearing on May 20, 2014, on “Nanotechnology: From Laboratories to Commercial Products.” The purpose of the hearing was to examine the current state of nanotechnology research and development (R&D), as well as future opportunities and challenges. In addition, the hearing discussed policy issues surrounding nanotechnology applications and activities, federal funding levels for nanotechnology...
Kathleen M. Roberts was quoted in an article in Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report titled “EPA, Industry Far Apart on Agency Stance on Listing Mandate for Chemical Fractions.” “Kathleen Roberts, a vice presidentwith Bergeson & Campbell Consortia Management (BCCM), said the biobased and petroleum-based chemical manufacturers she works with through the Alliance for Chemical Nomenclature she manages would like to avoid a fight. Companies are genuinely confused when it comes to...