All Knowledge & Insights By Date

As required by the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), on June 22, 2017, one year after passage of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued the three framework rules in final.  EPA also released draft guidance to assist in developing and submitting draft risk evaluations.  The final rules are: Procedures for Chemical Risk Evaluation; Procedures for Prioritization of Chemicals for Risk...

A major change, brought about by the November elections, is the uptick in citizen suit litigation, and lawsuits brought by third parties against the government. Given the current administration’s position on climate change, environmental regulation generally, and the perception that regulations impede economic growth and job development, there has been a significant slowdown in regulatory and administrative activity and the initiation of enforcement actions. NGOs and third-party activists will...

On June 19, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency posted a memo authorizing the opening of comment periods for the public to comment on the risk evaluation process for the first ten chemicals it is evaluating under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to determine whether they “present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.”  Specifically, EPA states it is interested in “information from the public that could be useful to the...

The Minamata Convention on Mercury (Convention), a global treaty aimed at scaling down mercury use and production developed by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), recently surpassed the 50-country threshold required for it to become legally binding for all of its parties.  This occurred on May 18, 2017, when the European Union (EU) and seven of its member states (Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania, and Sweden) ratified the Convention.  The...

With the recent 2016 Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) dataset and the initial interim list of “active” substances released with the February 2017 copy of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory, the magnitude of effort needed for the TSCA Section 8(b)(4) Inventory Reset is becoming clear. Stakeholders should waste no time in preparing to meet their obligations; the final rule was issued in June.

On June 15, 2017, the European Commission (EC) published a catalog of nanomaterials used in cosmetic products on the European Union (EU) market.  Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 on cosmetic products requires the EC to publish a catalog of all nanomaterials used in cosmetics placed on the market, indicating the categories of products and the reasonably foreseeable exposure conditions.  Under the Regulation, the catalog was due by January 11, 2014.  As reported in our...

On June 16, 2017, James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant with Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), was quoted in the Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report article “Former Arizona Environment Chief Tapped as EPA's COO.” […] Henry Darwin, a longtime government official and former director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, will serve as EPA assistant deputy administrator. In a statement, EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman said Darwin “will...

On June 16, 2017, Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Senior Chemist at Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), was quoted by Inside EPA discussing changes to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ‘New Chemicals’ program. […] Jeff Morris, director of EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), described some of the ongoing efforts he hopes will prevent further backlogs while speaking during a June 12 webinar. […] Morris explained that with polymers...

On June 13, 2017, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) received a notice from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitting its draft Guidance to Assist Interested Persons in Developing and Submitting Draft Risk Evaluations Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (RIN 2070-ZA18) for review and approval.  Under Section 26(l)(5), EPA is required, “[n]ot later than 1 year after the date of enactment … [to] develop guidance to assist interested...

On June 14, 2017, Charles M. Auer, Senior Regulatory and Policy Advisor at Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), was quoted in the Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report article “EPA Pledges Long-Term Elimination of New Chemicals Backlog.” […] The percentage of new chemicals the EPA has regulated before and since the [Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act] passed last June jumped from roughly 10 percent to about 70 percent, said Charles Auer, who...

On June 7, 2017, Sweden notified the European Commission (EC) that it intends to amend the information requirements concerning the Swedish Chemicals Agency’s (KEMI) product register to require notifiers to provide information on nanomaterials contained in the product.  Under the draft regulation, the requirement will apply to nanomaterials that have been intentionally added to the product, regardless of the concentration of the nanomaterials.  The definition of nanomaterial...

On June 9, 2017, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) “concluded that the available scientific evidence meets the criteria in the [Classification, Labeling and Packaging (CLP)] Regulation to classify titanium dioxide as a substance suspected of causing cancer through the inhalation route.”  In May 2016, France submitted a proposal for harmonized classification and labeling (CLH).  The proposal’s...

Most people knew candidate Trump was no fan of climate change regulation or the Clean Water Rule (CWR). Mr. Trump’s views on chemical management were never clearly articulated, however. Some may have interpreted this notable silence as support for Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform, given the broad bipartisan support it enjoyed before its enactment last June. Others may have assumed candidate Trump, in the heat of the campaign, was unaware of the significant commercial, legal, and...

The Industrial Chemicals Bill 2017 describes the legislative framework for a reformed, risk-based regulatory scheme for Australia to continue to regulate the introduction of industrial chemicals.  The Australian government has presented the bill to Parliament.  On June 1, 2017, the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) published Consultation Paper 5, which seeks feedback from stakeholders on the detail to be included in delegated...

By Kathleen M. Roberts On June 2, 2017, Neste, a member of the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®), released a statement in response to the decision by President Trump to withdraw the U.S from the Paris Agreement.  According to Neste, the U.S. withdrawal is “unfortunate” and “a saddening turn for the international battle against climate change.”  The decision, however, will not signal the downfall of the Agreement, which has been...

By Kathleen M. Roberts On June 5, 2017, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s (DOC) International Trade Administration (ITA) announced in the Federal Register that the preliminary determination in the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations on biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia will be postponed.  The preliminary determination will be due by August 21, 2017, and the final determination will be due within 75 days of the issuance of the preliminary...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a pre-publication version of its direct final rule signed on April 5, 2017, which states that EPA will be promulgating significant new use rules (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 37 chemical substances which were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN).  This action will require persons who intend to manufacture or process any of these 37 chemical substances for an activity that is designated as a...