All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On June 14, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule to amend the Renewable Fuel Standard. The proposal would allow use of biogas from landfills to meet the obligations imposed on refiners and importers to utilize renewable feedstocks in transportation fuels, and clarify which renewable biofuels can be categorized as cellulosic biofuels. The Renewable Fuel Standard (known as RFS2) was first promulgated in 2010. RFS2 implements requirements for the use of...

On June 21, 2013, the European Commission (EC) began a consultation on the modification of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation annexes on nanomaterials. According to the EC, the objective of the initiative is to provide further clarity on how nanomaterials are addressed.

Washington, D.C. (June 24, 2013): The Biobased Products Advocacy Consortium (B2PAC) debuted today a new name, logo, and web address to describe more fully and descriptively the wide range of industrial biotechnology products made by its member companies. The consortium is now known as the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group, or BRAG. The new name and logo were previewed last week at the 2013 Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology...

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) released its first draft risk assessments developed under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) “Work Plan Program” on January 4, 2013. The draft risk assessments cover particular uses of five chemicals found in household products. While the chemicals covered in these first draft assessments may or may not be of interest to Environmental Quality Management readers, the draft assessments can give us a sense of how the Agency is...

On June 19, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of a fact sheet intended to provide guidance on reporting chemical substances that are or contain different isotopes of the same elements that are already on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory. Elemental isotopes have the same number of protons and therefore are the "same" element, but differ in molecular weight and possibly other properties because of a differing number of neutrons. EPA...

EPA Publishes Final EDSP Policies And Procedures And Final Second List Of Chemicals And Substances For Tier 1 Screening: On June 14, 2013, EPA published a Federal Register notice describing its final policies and procedures for requiring Tier 1 screening under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) of chemicals for which EPA may issue EDSP test orders pursuant to Section 1457 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and Section 408(p) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic...

Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 30, 2009, on Cosmetic Products will come into force on July 11, 2013, and repeals the Cosmetics Directive Regulation (Directive 76/768/EEC) provisions concerning carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic for reproduction (CMR) substances that have applied since December 1, 2010. The European Commission (EC) states that the Cosmetics Directive "until now ensured that products circulate freely whilst...

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, held a June 13, 2013, hearing on "Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act: Understanding its History and Reviewing its Impact." The oversight hearing was intended to improve the Subcommittee's understanding of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and its implementation. The background memorandum for the hearing notes that Title I authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection...

An Inside EPA article reporting on TSCA reform, “Despite States' Rights Push, Key Republican Seeks Preemption Under TSCA,” featured comments made by Kathleen M. Roberts before a House Subcommittee hearing entitled “Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act: Understanding its History and reviewing its Impact.” “Kathleen Roberts, of the industry law firm Bergeson & Campbell, argued that ‘I would be concerned if there was not a 'least burdensome' aspect in the regulation because...

B&C® Consortia Management, L.L.C. Vice President Kathleen M. Roberts and Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C) affiliate Charles M. Auer of Charles Auer & Associates, LLC provided expert testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy today at a hearing entitled "Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act [TSCA]: Understanding its History and Reviewing its Impact," an oversight hearing intended to enhance the Subcommittee's...