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On February 27, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of and solicited public comment on two draft documents that are being submitted to the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) for peer review: “Draft Proposed Principles of Cumulative Risk Assessment under the Toxic Substances Control Act” (draft proposed principles) and “Draft Proposed Approach for Cumulative Risk Assessment of High-Priority Phthalates and a Manufacturer-Requested...

Washington D.C. law firm Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) has launched the PFAS News and Information web page. Continuing B&C’s tradition of providing reliable information and analysis of the most pressing chemical issues of the day, this web page provides constantly updated resources to help those in the chemicals and chemical products industries understand what they need to know about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) developments and what it means to their...

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on February 23, 2023, entitled “EPA Chemical Reviews: Workforce Planning Gaps Contributed to Missed Deadlines.” GAO evaluated the extent to which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) met selected Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) deadlines for reviewing existing and new chemicals since June 2016, and to which EPA engaged in workforce planning for implementing its chemical review responsibilities. GAO identified...

On February 14, 2023, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) announced a much anticipated proposed rule intended to provide additional guidance on the notification requirements and sales prohibitions for products and product components containing intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). MDEP will hold a public hearing on April 20, 2023. Comments are due May 19, 2023, by 5:00 p.m. (EDT). Background Maine enacted “An Act To...

On February 15, 2023, Bloomberg Law quoted Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), regarding claims by environmental groups that the European Union (EU) has failed to update rules on nanomaterials, leading to insufficient information being provided about the potential health and environmental risks posed by the substances.  An update of REACH is being prepared that will, among other things, write the mid-2022 definition of...

Download transcript. This week, I welcomed back to the studio Karin F. Baron, Director of Hazard Communication and International Registration Strategy at B&C and our consulting affiliate, The Acta Group. During this 100th All Things Chemical podcast, Karin and I discuss the very important recently released amendments to the Canadian Hazardous Products Regulations (HPR). The amendments are intended to align the HPR with the seventh revised edition (Rev 7) of the United Nations (UN)...

This article focuses on one of many abrupt, and in some views, unlawful, EPA policy shifts frustrating lawyers and confusing the public. The EPA moved in 2021 from a “conditions of use” approach to evaluating chemical risk to a “whole chemical” approach. This seemingly modest change is a key reason why lawyers advising chemical stakeholders are struggling and why there may be a lot of TSCA litigation in the EPA’s future.

On February 7, 2023, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced the availability of a much anticipated detailed proposal to restrict more than 10,000 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. The national authorities of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden (dossier submitters) submitted the proposal after finding risks in the manufacture, placement on the...

On February 3, 2023, the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change (MoEUCC) released new guidance on the registration requirements under the KKDIK regulation (Kimyasalların Kaydı, Değerlendirilmesi, İzni ve Kısıtlanması). As a result of this new guidance, providing importer information for the registration of a substance is now optional instead of mandatory, the chemical safety report (CSR) may be submitted in English, and there is additional time after the...

Download transcript. This week, I sat down with Jim Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant at B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group. We discuss what to expect in 2023 from Capitol Hill and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) when it comes to key chemical matters. Jim is, of course, one of the country’s most talented pesticide experts and, as a former Assistant Administrator of what is now OCSPP and a...