On May 27, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice announcing that it will begin a general practice of reviewing confidentiality claims for chemical identities in health and safety studies submitted under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 75 Fed. Reg. 29754, available online. EPA states that TSCA Section 14(b) “does not extend confidential treatment to health and safety studies, or data from health and safety studies,...
In a recent European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) e-News release, dated May 19, 2010, ECHA provides a brief summary and Internet links to several important press releases to assist notifiers. The release provides a brief overview of the duties that are required to be met under notification along with access to documents and web pages that provide assistance on performing Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) notifications in association with the CLP Regulation (1272/2008). This memorandum...
According to a prepublication copy of a forthcoming Federal Register notice, all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regions will propose a draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for point source discharges from the application of certain pesticides to U.S. waters. Once final, the permit will be available to operators in those areas where EPA is the NPDES permitting authority. According to the notice, this action is in response to the Sixth...
On May 20, 2010, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a proposed rule regarding the conditions and requirements for testing component parts of consumer products to demonstrate compliance of a consumer product with all applicable rules, bans, standards, and regulations to support a general conformity certificate or a certificate for a children’s product pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA); as part of a reasonable testing program pursuant...
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a potentially lethal workplace hazard lurks at the feet of millions of workers in the U.S. The floors and other surfaces that American workers walk on during our daily work routines can be the cause of serious injuries. Slips, trips and falls — particularly falls from elevated heights — for decades have been a leading cause of workplace fatalities in the U.S....
The arsenic Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment exemplifies the current administration’s unwillingness to walk its own talk on transparency and scientific integrity....
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) allows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to keep a list of chemicals that present or may present ‘‘an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.’’ This authority has not been used since TSCA was enacted in 1976. In April, EPA said it intends to propose a rule to add a category of eight phthalates, a category of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and bisphenol A to such a...
We are pleased to announce that Kevin N. Goulden and Leslie S. MacDougall of The Acta Group EU, Ltd (Acta EU) will address technical and regulatory issues at the June 1, 2010, Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) seminar entitled “Outstanding Issues Before the 1st December 2010 Registration Deadline.” The seminar, which will be held at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, in Brussels, Belgium, will address questions related to the December 1, 2010,...
James V. Aidala began working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a college intern in the Office of Pesticide Programs; he returned as a policy analyst in the new Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPTS) after graduate school. From Aidala’s perspective, there was much uncertainty in the early years of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), in part due to challenges with the law’s specificity regarding polychlorinated biphenyls and, later, asbestos and lead, and...
May 19, 2010
EPA Announces Draft PR Notice Concerning False or Misleading Pesticide Product Brand Names
Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice announcing the availability of, and seeking public comment on, a draft Pesticide Registration (PR) Notice entitled “False or Misleading Pesticide Product Brand Names.” According to EPA, the draft PR Notice is intended to provide guidance to applicants, registrants, and distributors concerning pesticide product brand names that may be false or misleading, either by themselves or in...