All Knowledge & Insights By Date

This week, I sat down with my colleague Jim Aidala, a Senior Government Affairs Consultant here at the firm, to discuss 2019 and the state of industrial and agricultural chemical regulation: what is to come, what to expect, and how we can prepare for it. We begin, of course, by looking at 2018, chiefly, the appointment and confirmation of Alexandra Dunn, the new EPA Assistant Administrator in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, the office tasked with administering TSCA and...

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. Section 6(b)(2)(B) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires that, as of three and a half years after enactment (by December 22, 2019), at least 20 high-priority chemicals be undergoing risk evaluations and at least 20 low-priority chemicals be designated by EPA. In a March 21, 2019, Federal Register...

SAVE THE DATE New TSCA At Three Wednesday, June 24, 2019, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (EDT) Milken Institute School of Public HealthGeorge Washington University950 New Hampshire Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. Join the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, and Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) for a one-day conference providing updates and insights regarding year three of the federal government’s...

On March 15, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a signed final rule that prohibits the manufacture (including import), processing, and distribution of methylene chloride for consumer paint and coating removal. EPA states that it “determined that the use of methylene chloride in consumer paint and coating removal presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health due to acute human lethality.” Under the final rule, paint removal products containing...

On March 20, 2019, Bloomberg Environment spoke with Kathleen M. Roberts, Senior Regulatory Consultant, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and vice president of B&C® Consortia Management LLC (BC-CM), for the article “Industry Advisers Back EPA Strategy on Chemical Vetting.” Looking at several chemicals that serve a similar commercial function can help industry provide the EPA with what it needs to sort the 40 chemicals into the two categories […] For example,...

Available On Demand California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, also known as Proposition 65 (Prop 65), requires businesses in California to provide warnings about certain consumer product, occupational, and/or environmental exposures to substances that the State of California has determined to be known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.  Amendment regulations pertinent to these warnings effective as of August 2018 focused many companies on the requirements,...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to have presented the complimentary webinar “Prop 65: Exposure Assessments and Compliance Implications.” The webinar discussed legal, scientific, and practical considerations for companies to evaluate before deciding to conduct and rely upon exposure assessments determinations that Prop 65 warning requirements do not apply.  The webinar consisted of 45 minutes of presentation, followed by a 15-minute Q&A...

On March 18, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new tools intended to help companies, organizations, and individuals fulfill their reporting requirements under the mercury reporting requirements rule. Those required to report under the mercury rule can now do so online through the Mercury Electronic Reporting (MER) application accessed through EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX). EPA states that it designed this reporting tool “to be user-friendly, with drop-down...

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released on March 6, 2019, a report titled “High-Risk Series: Substantial Efforts Needed to Achieve Greater Progress on High-Risk Areas.” This column discusses the report and its implications on chemical management policy.

On March 13, 2019, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change held a hearing on “Mismanaging Chemical Risks:  EPA’s Failure to Protect Workers.”  The hearing examined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) assessment and management of risks to workers from toxic chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and other laws.  The Subcommittee focused on EPA’s implementation of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for...