July 12, 2019

ECHA’s Management Board Supports Efforts To Improve REACH Authorization And Evaluation and Other Recent REACH Developments

ECHA’s Management Board Supports Efforts To Improve REACH Authorization And Evaluation: On June 20, 2019, ECHA issued a press release entitled “Management Board supports efforts to improve REACH authorisation and evaluation.” In its press release, ECHA provides that its Management Board “has expressed its confidence in the plans to adjust the process for applications for [authorization].” The Management Board also welcomed the joint action plan of ECHA and the EC to improve the...
July 12, 2019

China Begins Public Consultation on Draft Revision to MEP Order No. 7

On July 9, 2019, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE, formerly the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP)) issued a notice of public consultation on the draft revision to the “Environmental Management of New Chemical Substances” (MEP Order No. 7). The deadline to submit comments to MEE regarding the draft revision is August 16, 2019. Comments should be submitted to MEE via e-mail (chem@mee.gov.cn). What Is New? The “Provision on the Environmental Administration of New...
July 11, 2019

REGISTER NOW—FDA FSMA Food Defense Plan Requirements Webinar

Register NowFDA FSMA Food Defense Plan Requirements Wednesday, July 24, 20191:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (EDT) Overview: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is the most comprehensive reform measure created to prevent food-borne illness.  Enacted in 2011, FSMA includes massive legislative changes aimed to prevent food-borne diseases.  One of the FSMA foundational rules, Mitigation Strategies to Protect against Intentional Adulteration,...
July 2, 2019

EPA Releases Draft Risk Evaluations for HBCD and 1,4-Dioxane, Schedules SACC Peer Review

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on July 1, 2019, a Federal Register notice announcing the availability of the draft risk evaluations for cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster (HBCD) and 1,4-dioxane, two of the first ten chemicals undergoing risk evaluation under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 84 Fed. Reg. 31315. EPA states that the purpose of the risk evaluations is to determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk to health...
July 2, 2019

Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Prioritizes Chemicals for Risk Evaluation: Why This Matters,” Environmental Quality Management, Volume 28, Issue 4, Summer 2019.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on March 20, 2019, a list of 40 chemicals for which EPA is initiating the prioritization process for risk evaluation. This article explains why the prioritization process is critically important for product manufacturers to monitor and manage, and how best to do so....
June 28, 2019

Zameer Qureshi, “EU REACH: how’s life after the Registration deadlines?,” Elements, the Magazine of Chemicals Northwest,, Spring 2019.

The registration deadlines for pre-registered “phase-in” chemical substances under the European Union’s (EU) Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation presented for the chemicals industry a wide range of demanding tasks requiring substantial expertise from scientists, consultants, lawyers, and others. The transitional phase of REACH ended on 31 May 2018, and companies of all shapes and sizes are now engaged in a wide range of ongoing compliance...
June 28, 2019

“TSCA: Three Years Later” Conference Looks to the Past and into the Future

On June 24, 2019, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (GWU) presented “TSCA: Three Years Later,” a day-long conference with leading experts exploring the current impacts of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) on science policies, challenges faced by industry, and the impacts of TSCA on regulatory policies, especially those concerning...
June 27, 2019

China Accepting Nominations of Existing Chemical Substances to Existing Chemical Inventory

On June 21, 2019, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE, formerly the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP)) issued a notice on supplementing and improving the Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances in China (IECSC). Per the notice, chemical substances that were legally produced or imported in China before October 15, 2003, but that are not on the IECSC, except for the substance categories exempted from the “Environmental Management of New Chemical Substances” (MEP Order No....
June 24, 2019

EPA Publishes Proposed PBT Chemicals Rule under TSCA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released on June 21, 2019, a proposed rule intended to reduce exposures to certain chemicals that are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT). EPA identified five chemicals pursuant to Section 6(h) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE); phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)), also known as tris(4-isopropylphenyl) phosphate; 2,4,6-tris(tert-butyl)phenol (2,4,6-TTBP);...
June 24, 2019

TSCA: Three Years Later, Monday, June 24, 2019, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. EDT, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, D.C.

The Environmental Law Institute (ELI), the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, and Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) held a one-day conference providing updates and insights regarding year three of the federal government’s implementation of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act that amended the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) on June 22, 2016.  Speakers provided an overview of the current...