On June 24, 2016, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signed Senate Bill 657 modifying provisions related to motor vehicles. Under this new law, liability insurance carried by gas stations will expand coverage to include the release of blended fuels from incompatible storage tanks. The inclusion of blended fuels under the required insurance policy will remove one more barrier towards increasing the number of blender pumps within the state. The bill was originally introduced on January 6, 2016, and will...
Category: General
On July 6, 2016, Hawaii Governor David Ige signed SB 2652 Related to Taxation -- Locally Produced Renewable Energy. This bill establishes a five-year renewable fuels production tax credit. The tax credit will take effect in 2017 and will provide 20 cents per gallon of ethanol (or 76,000 British thermal units (Btu) of renewable fuel) with a cap of $3 million. The tax credit is open to companies producing at least 15 billion Btu of fuel from renewable feedstocks per year. Acceptable fuels include,...
July 14, 2016
WEBINAR — The New TSCA Series Webinar 2: Impacts on New Chemical Programs, July 14, 2016, 11:00 a.m. EDT
Chemical Watch complimentary webinar series on the "new" TSCA. The second webinar, “The New TSCA: Impacts on New and Existing Chemicals Programs,” will take a deeper dive into the profound changes that the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) makes to TSCA Sections 4, 5, and 6. Panelists include: Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell P.C.; Richard A. Denison, Ph.D., Lead Senior Scientist, Environmental...
On July 1, 2016, Inside EPA published "Committee Jurisdiction Issues Blocked Green Chemistry From TSCA Reform," an article discussing the passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) law and the lack of language from previous versions boosting federal support of green chemistry. The majority of the bill was reviewed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but the green chemistry provision would have needed to be reviewed by the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee,...
On July 14, 2016, Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report included quotes from the B&C® and Chemical Watch webinar “The New TSCA Series Webinar 2: Impacts on New Chemical Programs.” Chemical manufacturers and processors will need to give exposure and toxicity data to the EPA for it to evaluate the risks of new and existing chemicals as required by the recently amended Toxic Substances Control Act, said Charles Auer, who directed the EPA Office of Pollution...
On June 29, 2016, the European Commission (EC) provided a notice to the European Parliament regarding its response to a 2014 petition calling for a European Union (EU)-wide ban on microplastics and nanoparticles. The petition summary states: “Nanoparticles are so small that they penetrate cells effortlessly and can damage them, causing cancer. Because the precautionary principle applies in the EU, the petitioner urges a ban on these small particles as soon as possible.” In its...
An Environmental Law Institute (ELI) Seminar and Webinar. ELI examined the unique history of TSCA reform, and we heard from people and organizations critical to its ultimate success. Speakers shared insight from the road to reform and fielded questions from the audience. Panelists:John Pendergrass, VP of Programs & Publications, Environmental Law Institute (moderator)Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell PCSarah Brozena, Senior Director of Regulatory &...
An Environmental Law Institute Seminar and Webinar, Complimentary for members, $50 for non-members. On June 22, 2016 President Obama signed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, amending the Toxic Substances Control Act for the first time since its passage in 1976. While environmental organizations, public health advocates, the regulated community, and EPA have all supported updating the law since at least 2009, political challenges seemed destined to prevent...
July 12, 2016
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Grasp the Gravity of the New TSCA,” Chemical Processing, July 13, 2016.
The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act makes seismic changes in domestic industrial chemical management. If you think the extensive revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) enacted on June 22, 2016, don’t impact your business, think again. TSCA reform affects virtually every domestic business sector involving chemicals and manufactured goods containing chemicals, and will continue to do so for years to come.
July 11, 2016
Ninth Circuit Affirms EPA Order Denying Request for Uniform Buffer Zones to Mitigate Exposure of Children to Spray Drift
On July 5, 2016, a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a brief opinion denying a petition for review of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) order in which EPA declined to “immediately adopt interim prohibitions on the use of toxic drift-prone pesticides … near homes, schools, parks, and daycare centers or wherever children congregate.” Petitioners Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), United Farm Workers, and Pineros y...