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Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group, LLC (Acta®), are seeking a pesticide regulatory consultant to join our growing team of regulatory consultants, scientists, and policy experts.  This position will be a full-time remote/telecommuting position directed from our Washington, D.C. office even if filled by a local candidate. PositionApplicants should be experienced in all aspects of preparing, submitting, and managing applications under the...

This week, I sat down with Jim Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant at B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group.  As a former Assistant Administrator in what is now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Jim has a keen sense of how EPA prepares for and transitions to changes in Administrations.  As we prepare for the November elections, we thought it would be good to check-in with Jim...

The European Commission (EC) began a public consultation on September 14, 2020, on the Inception Impact Assessment (Assessment) for a directive on the “Sustainable Products Initiative” (Initiative). According to the EC, this Initiative, which will revise the Ecodesign Directive and propose additional legislative measures as appropriate, intends to make products placed on the European Union (EU) market more sustainable. The EC states that consumers, the environment, and the climate...

The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) issued memorandum M-20-31 on August 31, 2020, on the implementation of Section 6 of Executive Order (EO) 13924, “Executive Order on Regulatory Relief to Support Economic Recovery.” Section 6 of the EO directs the “heads of all agencies” to “consider the principles of fairness in administrative enforcement and adjudication” enumerated in the EO and to “revise their procedures...

On September 24, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the final risk evaluation for cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster (HBCD). EPA found unreasonable risks to the environment from six out of 12 conditions of use and unreasonable risks to workers and occupational non-users (ONU) from the processing, use, and disposal of HBCD, largely from building and construction materials. EPA’s website states “EPA did not find unreasonable risks to the general population or...

On August 26, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the much-anticipated interim final list of businesses subject to risk evaluation fees for the 20 chemicals designated as “high priority” under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Making the interim final list available now gives businesses and other stakeholders an opportunity to review the list for accuracy. It also provides time for businesses to reach out to form consortia to share in fee payments....

A recent legal challenge may be of interest to some of our clients. The challenge involves a case filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) challenging President Trump’s authority to impose supplemental tariffs on goods from China identified on Lists 3 and 4A and seeking refunds. As our clients know well, some pesticides and cleaning products are listed on List 3 and thus subject to 25% China tariffs. There are two prongs to the argument....

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) will be reorganizing at the end of September 2020. OCSPP currently consists of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), and the Office of Science Coordination and Policy (OSCP). According to reporting in Bloomberg Environmental, EPA is reorganizing within OPPT and OPP, as well as reorganizing at the OCSPP level. EPA has recently...

Ordinarily, government fees command little interest in corporate finance and board-level business circles. Newly imposed fees to defray the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) risk evaluation of high-priority chemical substances under Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) are extraordinary, however, and are commanding significant interest. This article explains why....

On September 4, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published two Federal Register notices regarding the risk evaluations for the 20 high-priority chemicals designated in December 2019. In the first notice, EPA announced the availability of the final scope documents for the risk evaluations to be conducted under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for the 20 high-priority substances. 85 Fed. Reg. 55281. The scope document for each chemical substance includes...