All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On January 23, 2013, Representative Mike Honda (D-CA) reintroduced the Nanotechnology Advancement and New Opportunities (NANO) Act (H.R.394). Honda described the Act as a comprehensive bill intended to promote the development and responsible stewardship of nanotechnology in the U.S. Honda based the legislation on the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology, a panel of California nanotechnology experts convened by Honda and then-California State Controller Steve Westly...

Lynn L. Bergeson will speak at a May 8, 2013, conference on recent advances in environmental health and safety (EHS) of engineered nanomaterials. The University of California Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN) is holding the conference on “Scientific Advances Towards Reducing Complexity in Decision Making.” Participants will include industry, regulators, policy makers, nano EHS professionals, and academics from the State of California, nationally, and...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the February 20, 2013, Federal Register a notice announcing its intent to extend an Information Collection Request (ICR) concerning "Registration of Fuels and Fuel Additives -- Health-Effects Research Requirements for Manufacturers." Manufacturers (including importers) of fuels and additives designated by EPA, including motor-vehicle gasoline, motor-vehicle diesel fuel, and additives for those fuels, are required to register...

On February 6, 2013, As You Sow announced the release of a report entitled Slipping Through the Cracks: An Issue Brief on Nanomaterials in Foods. As You Sow states that the report is intended to inform companies, investors, and consumers about the emerging use of engineered nanomaterials in food and food related products. The report “highlights the potential risks of nanotechnology for companies who are knowingly or unknowingly using it in their products and for public...

The Biobased Products Advocacy Consortium (B2PAC), an affiliate of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C), and the Society for the Commercial Development of Industrial Biotechnology (SCD-iBIO), an affiliate of the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA), announced on February 14, 2013, the formation of a new alliance to advance the commercialization of industrial biotechnology and biobased products. According to a recently...

Manufacturers working with nanoscale materials will be pleased to know that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently published a fact sheet entitled "Working Safely with Nanomaterials". This document is a welcome addition to the widely available literature on managing prudently workplace exposures to nanomaterials.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on February 6, 2013, its preliminary volatilization assessment for the registration review of chlorpyrifos. 76 Fed. Reg. 8522. In a letter to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and to the Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) dated January 25, 2013, updating these groups on EPA's response to their September 12, 2007, joint petition regarding chlorpyrifos, EPA stated that "[t]his assessment represents a significant...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) resources are not expected to be robust. This will translate to further reductions in its operating programs such as the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), and eventually (if not already) will translate into personnel, skills-mix and salary impacts. This will hinder the ability of both OCSPP programs – Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) and Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) – to review submissions in a...

The European Commission (EC) announced on February 5, 2013, that it completed its five-year review of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. The pre-publication version of the EC’s report states that the EC “will make an impact assessment of relevant regulatory options, in particular possible amendments of REACH Annexes, to ensure further clarity on how nanomaterials are addressed and safety demonstrated in registration...

The Acta Group (Acta) is pleased to announce the expansion of our international regulatory and registrations capability with the addition of regulatory specialist Hayley J. Clayton, Ph.D., to our European staff. With more than a decade of experience in global chemical development, manufacturing, and transport, Dr. Clayton brings to Acta and our clients a deep understanding of risk assessment, regulatory compliance, and dangerous goods safety, as well as an extensive network of contacts in UK and...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on January 31, 2013, the proposed 2013 percentage standards for four fuel categories that are part of the Renewable Fuel Standard Program. Once EPA publishes the proposed standards in the Federal Register, there will be a 45-day comment period. Under the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), the annual renewable fuel volume targets steadily increase to an overall level of 36 billion gallons in 2022. To meet...

TSCA/FIFRA/NTP/EPCRA EPA Issues Toxics Release Inventory Program Data: On January 16, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2011, revealing the releases declined 8 percent from 2010, primarily due to decreases in hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions. Total releases of chemicals increased for the second year in a row. The TRI program collects information on certain toxic chemical releases to the air, water, and land, as...

On November 27, 2012, EPA released The EDSP Universe of Chemicals and General Validation Principles, as well as the list of approximately 10,000 chemicals. This article explains the document and its implications.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 30, 2013, that it will issue a final notice of intent to cancel the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) registrations for the 12 D-Con mouse and rat control products produced by Reckitt Benckiser Inc. (Reckitt). This notice is intended to effectuate a Risk Mitigation Decision for rodenticides issued by EPA on May 28, 2008. EPA contends that these cancellations are necessary because "these products fail to...

On January 25, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2012 cellulosic biofuel requirements under the renewable fuel standard. American Petroleum Institute v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 12-1139. In its January 2012 final rule, EPA projected that 8.65 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel would be produced in 2012, and determined that a reduction in the volume of total advanced biofuels was unnecessary because...