All Knowledge & Insights By Date

The 5th Annual Bio-Based and Renewable Chemicals Summit is underway and throughout the proceedings attendees have heard one message loud and clear: renewables are here, they are growing, and the time for addressing the critical path to commercialization is now. Kathleen M. Roberts, Executive Director of the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG™), served as Summit Chair. She moderated a spirited session featuring Benjamin M. Borns, Technical Expert in Application of Bio-Based...

A February 4, 2015 story, “More Final Risk Assessments Planned Despite Reduced FY16 EPA Budget Request,” in Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report on the Congressional Justification released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on February 2, 2015 addressing the EPA FY2016 budget, reported that EPA intends to publish more chemical risk assessments in fiscal year 2016 than it anticipates issuing in fiscal 2015, that the agency says it can achieve its goal despite a cut...

On February 4, 2014, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a hearing entitled “Testing of Chemicals and Reporting and Retention of Information under TSCA Sections 4 and 8.” This was the fifth hearing on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) convened by the Subcommittee. The Subcommittee held oversight hearings on June 13, 2013, July 11, 2013, September 18, 2013, and November 13, 2013, that reviewed several core sections of...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently proposed revisions to the injury and illness reporting and recordkeeping requirements for employers. The proposal would increase workplace safety and health through improved tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses....

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to announce the launch of the Pesticide Law and Policy Blog to report on federal, state, and international regulatory, legal, and policy developments involving conventional pesticides, biopesticides, antimicrobials, and other pesticide products. The blog is available at pesticideblog.lawbc.com; users may sign up to receive e-mails of new posts to the blog at pesticideblog.lawbc.com/rss. The Pesticide Law and Policy Blog...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revised the Notice of Arrival (NOA) form (EPA Form 3540-1), the use of which is required for import of pesticides and pest control devices into the United States. Importers should begin using the new form immediately. The revised form and related instructions are available online. EPA has added optional information blocks, recommendations, and certain clarifications to the instructions. Some of these changes may be beneficial and respond to...

On December 30, 2013, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) released a consultation document entitled Proposed Approach to Special Reviews – Consultation Document. The Consultation Document outlines the Pest Control Products Act legislative requirements for special reviews and PMRA’s proposed approach to conduct such special reviews. The document is available online. PMRA is accepting comments until January 29, 2014. PMRA states that any comments...

This “Compliance Advisor” column outlines thoughts on what might be headed our way in 2014 from the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Beyond the election-driven rhetoric, demands of the discrete issues that routinely come before program management will drive the EPA. An added and complicating concern may be the impact on these and all issues of continued budget cuts that challenge the EPA’s ability to...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published on January 6, 2014, a report entitled Nanotechnologies — Considerations for the development of chemical nomenclature for selected nano-objects (ISO/TR 14786:2014), which is intended to provide information and analyses in support of the development of chemical nomenclature for the naming of “nano-objects.”...

Lynn L. Bergeson was quoted in a Chemical Watch article on the chemical spill near Charleston, West Virginia: “The spill ‘provides a textbook example of what’s wrong with [TSCA],’ says Lynn Bergeson of the law firm Bergeson and Campbell. ‘The paucity of information is the sticking point,’ she says, adding that public officials need access to more data than is currently available.”...