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By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 5, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is seeking grant applications through the Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program from states, federally recognized tribes, universities, local governments, and other groups to support innovative solutions for source reduction or pollution prevention (P2) through research, education, training, or certain other methods. EPA notes that as it highlights chemical safety during the month of March,...

This week, I sat down with my colleague, Dr. Richard Engler, Director of Chemistry here at B&C and The Acta Group (Acta®). We brought everyone up to date on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) fee rule and how it applies to entities obligated to pay a portion of the $1,350,000 per chemical fee for preparing an EPA-initiated risk evaluation, the legal and regulatory significance of the supplemental rulemaking on...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 11, 2020, the availability of the latest Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory.  EPA states that this biannual update to the public TSCA Inventory is part of its regular posting of non-confidential TSCA Inventory data.  According to EPA, this update adds 81 new chemicals, and the Inventory as a whole now contains 86,405 chemicals of which 41,484 are active in U.S commerce.  Other updates to the TSCA...

On March 10, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that warning letters were sent to seven companies for allegedly selling unapproved products that may violate federal law by making deceptive or scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat coronavirus (COVID-19).  The warning letters are the first issued by the Agencies alleging unapproved and/or unsupported claims that products can treat or prevent...

On March 5, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is seeking grant applications through the Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program from states, federally recognized tribes, universities, local governments, and other groups to support innovative solutions for source reduction or pollution prevention (P2) through research, education, training, or certain other methods.  EPA notes that as it highlights chemical safety during the month of March, “these...

The European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) announced on March 3, 2020, that the April 2020 issue of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology includes “The SCCS guidance on the safety assessment of nanomaterials in cosmetics.”  The highlights state that: The guidance provides an overview of the key issues and data requirements relating to the safety assessment of nanomaterials; The guidance facilitates the applicants and the risk assessors in...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and The Acta Group (Acta®) are pleased to announce that Christopher R. Blunck has joined our firms as Of Counsel with B&C and Senior Regulatory Specialist with Acta. Mr. Blunck most recently served as Policy Analyst and Special Assistant to the Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT). Mr. Blunck has managed or participated in the development of hundreds of Toxic Substances...

On March 5, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it issued a final rule to add two strains of microorganisms to the list of microorganisms eligible for an exemption from certain reporting requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  EPA states that manufacturers of new intergeneric Trichoderma reesei (strain QM6a) and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (subspecies amyloliquefaciens) may now be eligible to undergo a streamlined review process under...

On March 9, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has extended the deadline to self-identify as a manufacturer or importer of a high-priority chemical to May 27, 2020.  EPA states that it is working to address issues identified with implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Fees Rule and EPA-initiated risk evaluations.  EPA “is actively seeking ways to address the many implementation impracticalities that have been...

On March 3, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) to the Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science proposed rule. EPA notes that the SNPRM “is not a new rulemaking; rather, it provides clarifications on certain terms and aspects of the 2018 proposed rule.” The SNPRM: Proposes that the scope of the rulemaking applies to influential scientific information, as well as significant...