Category: General

June 28, 2016

WEBINAR — ABA PCRRTK Presents TSCA Reform Legislation – Update and Primer, June 28, 2016, Washington, D.C.

The American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Pesticides, Chemical Regulation & Right-to-Know Committee held a special webinar to review the TSCA Reform legislation, provide insight about the reconciliation negotiations, and consider how the legislation will be likely affect EPA resources and decision making, the regulated community, consumers and public interest organizations, and the environment. Speakers included: Jim Jones, Assistant Administrator, US...
June 28, 2016

Emma L. Jackson, Louise C. Boardall, Zameer Qureshi, “Top Questions for Substance Information Exchange Forum (SIEF) Participation,” Elements, the Magazine of Chemicals Northwest, Summer, 2016.

The global chemicals industry has been presented with significant, often unfamiliar, challenges by the concept and functioning of SIEFs under REACH.  Through years of experience in SIEF participation on our clients’ behalf, Acta has identified the following questions to consider when participating in a SIEF.
June 26, 2016

EPA Renews ICR on TSCA Section 5(a)(2) SNURs for Existing Chemicals

On July 26, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice in the Federal Register soliciting a second round of comments on the burdens and value of information it periodically collects addressing significant new use rules (SNUR) for existing chemicals.  Specifically, EPA submitted a request to renew the approval of an existing information collection request (ICR), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 5(a)(2) SNURs for Existing Chemicals, to...
June 24, 2016

DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory Publishes Report Finding Bioenergy Crops Are Not A Risk To Food

On June 14, 2016, DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), through UT-Battelle, LLC, published a report determining that bioenergy crops do not impact food security. The report, "Reconciling food security and bioenergy: priorities for action," was put together by experts from ten institutions, including ORNL, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the World Bank, and Imperial College London. The report determined that previous studies finding bioenergy crops to blame...
June 24, 2016

Open Teleconference Of The State Energy Advisory Board Announced

On June 17, 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced an open teleconference of the State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB) in the Federal Register. STEAB advises DOE and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) on the operation of its energy efficiency programs, renewable energy programs, and grant programs for research and deployment in energy efficiency and renewable energy fields. The tentative agenda includes: "Receive STEAB Task Force updates on action items...
June 23, 2016

Complimentary Webinar Series on “‘The New TSCA’ — What You Need to Know”

For a deeper dive into how and when Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) programs will change and adapt to “New TSCA,” Chemical Watch and Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) are offering a series of complimentary webinars on “‘The New TSCA’ -- What You Need to Know,” featuring an impressive faculty of TSCA experts representing the perspectives of industry, environmental organizations, and U.S. Federal and State regulatory authorities.  The second one in the series, Impacts on...
June 22, 2016

TSCA Reform: Renewing Public Confidence in Chemical Control

In a June 22, 2016, blog post on The Hill's Congress Blog, Lynn L. Bergeson laid out four reasons why the American public has reason to celebrate the signing into law of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, “a comprehensive and vastly improved domestic chemical management law”: Reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) strikes the requisite balance between Congressional specificity and Agency discretion. Reformed TSCA addresses the law’s most...
June 22, 2016

TSCA Reform: An Analysis of Key Provisions and Fundamental Shifts in the Amended TSCA

An in-depth memorandum of the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), TSCA Reform:  An Analysis of Key Provisions and Fundamental Shifts in the Amended TSCA, includes an initial overview, a summary of information on the timing of various activities under the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) as related to enactment and other important milestones, and a more detailed discussion of the changes in Lautenberg relative to TSCA as they relate to...
June 21, 2016

nanoIndEx Publishes Guidance Document on Assessment of Personal Exposure to Airborne Nanomaterials

In June 2016, the “Assessment of Individual Exposure to manufactured nanomaterials by means of personal monitors and samples” (nanoIndEx) project published a guidance document entitled Assessment of Personal Exposure to Airborne Nanomaterials.  The three-year project was funded under the Safe Implementation of Innovative Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (SIINN) European Research Area Network (ERA-NET).  Its aim was to determine the field readiness and usability of the...