All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On Thursday, May 29, 2014, Biofuels Digest published an article by Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG™) Executive Director Kathleen Roberts titled “How to Make Friends and Win EPA Approvals: tips for biobased chemicals.” A copy of the article is available online. The article highlights the B&C© affiliate BRAG™ and the session it co-presented with B&C during the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s World Congress on...

In last week’s Special Report on Scale-up in Industrial Biotechnology, the Digest noted that a consistent lesson shared by leading biotech heavyweights at the BIO World Congress scale-up session is to “avoid an afterthought approach to regulatory compliance.” As luck and good scheduling would have it, after lunch on the same day, savvy conference-goers got up-close-and-personal with two senior U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulators and a seasoned company executive...

The BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, being held May 12-15, 2014, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the world's largest industrial biotechnology event for business leaders, investors, and policy makers in biofuels, biobased products, and renewable chemicals. BRAG and B&C will present a practical workshop to fully inform, equip, and assist renewable chemical producers in finding the path of least resistance on the road to commercialization. "Commercializing Renewable...

Oral argument was heard on April 7, 2014, on a joint motion filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by EPA, API, and AFPM to sever certain issues and hold them in abeyance pending administrative reconsideration. Monroe Energy LLC et al. v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 13-1265. According to the Respondent-Intervenors Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Growth Energy, and Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) in their April 16, 2014, response opposing EPA's motion, severing the case...

On April 7, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral arguments in Monroe Energy, LLC v. EPA (No. 13-1265). In the case, Monroe Energy, a subsidiary of Delta Airlines, the American Petroleum Institute (API), and the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) are challenging EPA's final 2013 RFS rule. The plaintiffs' arguments include that the rule should be overturned because EPA improperly considered the availability of carryover...

The Acta Group, L.L.C. (Acta), a regulatory consulting firm with offices in the U.S., UK, and China, and Sustainable Health, Environment, and Safety Chemical Consulting (SHES) of South Korea announced today the formation of a new strategic alliance. By joining Acta's exceptional capabilities in China, Europe, and the Americas with SHES' broad experience in South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and South Asia, the Acta-SHES alliance offers clients expanded, seamless access to a comprehensive...

We are very pleased to announce some of the speakers who are scheduled to participate in the session the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG™) is hosting May 13, 2014, at BIO World Congress, titled "Commercializing Renewable Chemicals and Biobased Products: The Importance of Successfully and Efficiently Navigating the Regulatory Process": * Tracy Williamson, Ph.D., Chief, Industrial Chemistry Branch, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, EPA; * David...

The 5th Annual Bio-Based and Sustainable Chemicals Summit, held last week in San Diego, California, brought together nearly 200 industry leaders to discuss and debate the critical developments the industry is currently facing, including innovative feedstocks, end-user applications, and progress of established and new chemical production platforms and applications. Session topics included "Feedstocks for the Future -- Availability and Selection," "Direct Conversion of Biomass to...

EPA received approximately 16,000 comments by the January 28, 2014, deadline for the public to weigh in on the EPA's proposed 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) renewable volume obligations (RVO). Industry organizations from all interested stakeholders made submissions. For the first time, EPA proposed to reduce the statutory RFS RVOs for corn ethanol and advanced biofuels, in addition to cellulosic biofuels. Under the proposal, EPA would use "a combination of" both of its RFS...

On December 18, 2013, the European Commission (EC) adopted three draft proposals on animal cloning and novel food. The draft proposal concerning novel food would revise the current regulation “with a view to improving access of new and innovative food to the EU market, while still maintaining a high level of consumer protection.” An EC question and answer (Q&A) concerning the draft proposals includes the following Q&A concerning nanomaterials: What are...

Chemical lawyer and Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) expert Lynn L. Bergeson was featured Monday, January 13, 2014, on the National Public Radio (NPR) program "All Things Considered." In a story on the mysteries that persist around a chemical spill in the Elk River near Charleston, West Virginia, NPR reporter Elizabeth Shogren interviewed Ms. Bergeson, whose comments were included in the national radio broadcast and NPR's web version of the story: "'These incidents are very painful for the...

This week, Evonik Industries and LanzaTech announced that they have entered into a three year research agreement under which Evonik will "combin[e] its existing biotechnology platforms with LanzaTech's synthetic biology and gas fermentation expertise for the development of a route to bio-processed precursors for specialty plastics from waste derived synthesis gas. In this route, microorganisms placed in fermenters are used to turn synthesis gas into chemical products." A copy of...

This week, the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG™) participated in the Biotechnology Industry Organization's Pacific Rim Summit on Biotechnology and Bioenergy in San Diego, California. The Summit included over 400 attendees with broad interest and involvement in biofuels and renewable chemicals. During the Summit, BRAG Executive Director Kathleen M. Roberts gave a presentation titled "The Here and Now of TSCA," in which she emphasized the criticality of...

The Society for the Commercial Development of Industrial Biotechnology (SCD-iBIO), an affiliate of the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA) and Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG™) strategic partner, held its 2nd International Forum in Philadelphia on November 11, 2013. The focus was "Commercializing Global Green: Markets from the Value Chain Perspective" and the program included symposia on the Automotive, Advanced Biofuels, Cleaning and...

Dyadic International, Inc. (Dyadic) has been issued a U.S. patent covering, among other things, methods of developing and producing novel enzymes, encoding nucleic acid molecules for those enzymes, and methods to convert lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars with enzymes that degrade the lignocellulosic material and novel combinations of enzymes, including those that provide a synergistic release of sugars from plant biomass. Dyadic is a global biotechnology company focused on the...

Attendees at the Society for the Commercial Development of Industrial Biotechnology's (SCD-iBIO) 2nd Annual "Commercializing Global Green" forum in Philadelphia this week participated in a practical, in-depth three-hour workshop presented by the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG™) on the critical policy, legislative, and regulatory issues impacting the commercialization of renewable chemicals. Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner of Bergeson & Campbell,...

On November 4, 2013, it was reported that Johor Biotechnology and Biodiversity Corporation (J-BioTech) recently signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Malaysian Biotechnology Corp Sdn Bhd (BiotechCorp) to develop a biobased industry in Johor.

On November 1, 2013, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Growth Energy, and RFA filed a motion to intervene on behalf of EPA in the current lawsuit by Monroe Energy, the American Petroleum Institute (API), and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) challenging EPA's final rule establishing the 2013 RVOs under the federal RFS. The filing was made in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where the case is pending. Copies of press releases...

The number of Significant New Use Rules (SNUR) issued by EPA has greatly increased in recent months, causing long and costly delays for companies trying to market biobased chemicals and products. The Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG™) is holding a workshop to help companies avoid these delays by explaining how, when, and to which entity or entities in the value chain the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) applies, and what a renewable chemical innovator must do to...

As stakeholders eagerly await the impending official release of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) rule, strong advocacy from all sides continues on the issue in Washington. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been reviewing the proposed rule since August 30, 2013. Recently, a draft of it was leaked (the leaked draft proposal). In the leaked draft proposal, for the first time, EPA would lower the RFS target volumes not only...