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On October 31, 2011, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) published a notice inviting comments on its proposed Report on Carcinogens (RoC) review process and announcing a public listening session to receive oral comments. This is good news, as I'll explain.

On August 16, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule, previously referred to as the Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) Modifications Rule. The CDR Rule expands the IUR to enable EPA to collect information on the manufacturing (including importing), processing, and use of commercial chemical sub­ stances and mixtures on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory (Inventory). This article provides...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) recently posted a list of fiscal year (FY) 2012 initiatives intended to enhance public involvement in advisory activities. According to the SAB website, in response to suggestions received at a June 1, 2011, session on public involvement, the SAB Staff Office developed additional practices to enhance public involvement in activities of the SAB, Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), and Advisory...

The October 28, 2011, issue of Inside EPA quotes Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s October 4, 2011, memorandum regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final guidance on the weight-of-evidence (WoE) analysis that it will use to evaluate the results of data submitted in response to test orders issued for Tier 1 screening under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP).

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C), B&C Consortia Management, L.L.C. (BCCM), The Acta Group, L.L.C. (Acta), and The Acta Group EU, Ltd (Acta EU) are pleased to announce that on November 8, 2011, James V. Aidala will speak at the CropLife America (CLA) and American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources' (SEER) Pesticides, Chemical Regulation and Right-to-Know Committee seminar, What's New, What's Hot in Pesticide Law and Policy Program, on current...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted a September 2011 guidance document entitled Guidance to Facilitate Decisions for Sustainable Nanotechnology, which was prepared by the National Risk Management Research Laboratory of the Office of Research and Development. EPA states that it developed the guidance to assist in assessing the sustainability of nanoproducts, and it is intended “to lay the groundwork for developing a decision-support framework through continual updates as...

On October 20, 2011, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) released its 2011 Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Strategy (Strategy), which is intended to provide guidance to the federal agencies that produce scientific information for risk management, regulatory decision-making, product use, research planning, and public outreach. The Strategy lists the following core research areas providing this information: (1) nanomaterial measurement infrastructure; (2) human...

The European Commission (EC) adopted on October 18, 2011, a Recommendation on the definition of a nanomaterial. The Recommendation “invites” member states, European Union agencies, and economic operators to use the following definition of nanomaterial “in the adoption and implementation of legislation and policy and research programmes concerning products of nanotechnologies”: 2.         “Nanomaterial” means a natural, incidental or...

On October 11, 2011, Health Canada announced the availability of its Policy Statement on Health Canada’s Working Definition for Nanomaterials. Health Canada received 29 comments from stakeholders on its March 2010 Interim Policy Statement, which it revised based on stakeholders’ feedback. According to Health Canada, other revisions were prompted by developments in international norms, evolving scientific evidence, and regulatory program needs. Health Canada states...

The European Commission (EC) has asked the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) to prepare a guidance document on the safety assessment of nanomaterials in cosmetics. In its request for guidance, the EC notes that a number of documents provide general guidance on the health risk assessment of manufactured nanomaterials, but experience with the assessment of specific substances is limited. The guidance, which is due February 2012, should address the essential...

On October 6, 2011, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a hearing on "Chemical Risk Assessment: What Works for Jobs and the Economy?" According to the background memorandum, the hearing was intended to explore the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), and the relationship between IRIS and EPA's regulatory requirements, "specifically whether IRIS is producing high quality science-based risk assessments...

On September 28, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final guidance on the weight-of-evidence (WoE) (Final WoE Guidance) analysis that it will use to evaluate the results of data submitted in response to test orders issued for Tier 1 screening under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). This WoE analysis, in turn, will be used to determine what substances merit further study under Tier 2 as substances that have the potential to interact with the estrogen,...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C), B&C Consortia Management, L.L.C. (BCCM), The Acta Group, L.L.C. (Acta), and The Acta Group EU, Ltd (Acta EU) are pleased to announce that on October 4, 2011, Lynn L. Bergeson will speak in Arlington, Virginia at the Society for Chemical Hazard Communication 2011 Fall Meeting on key issues relating to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) draft on Green Guides. The presentation will summarize the development of the Green Guides, the review process,...