TSCA/FIFRA/TRI EPA Seeks Public Comment On Whether To Limit The Scope Of The Treated Article Exemption: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on October 12, 2023, soliciting public comment and suggestions on specific issues related to seed treated with conventional pesticides (treated seed) and paint treated with conventional or antimicrobial pesticides (treated paint). 88 Fed. Reg. 70625. According to the ANPRM, EPA is...
Category: General
November 9, 2023
Informational Webinar on DOE’s Clean Fuels & Products ShotTM: Alternative Sources of Carbon-Based Products Will Be Held November 28, 2023
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will hold an informational webinar on November 28, 2023, about its Clean Fuels & Products Shot: Alternate Sources for Carbon-Based Products. During the webinar, a panel of DOE experts will provide information on how the Clean Fuels & Products Shot initiative fits into DOE’s broader Energy Earthshots™ portfolio. They will discuss how DOE works with industry, academia, and national labs on research, development, demonstration, and deployment of...
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on October 25, 2023, that scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) have developed biosensing technology that can help address the problem of plastic waste, specifically nylon-based waste, such as textiles, carpets, tires, and fishing nets. According to BETO, these and other products “are typically made from nylon-66, a common, very tough nylon made of a polymer building block called adipic acid...
On October 27, 2023, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a notice proposing changes to its Proposition 65 (Prop 65) Article 6 “clear and reasonable warnings” regulations for “short-form” warnings (Notice). OEHHA first proposed changes to the short-form warning requirements on January 8, 2021, with modifications proposed on December 13, 2021, and April 5, 2022. Industry was harshly critical of OEHHA’s proposal in written comments and during a...
November 1, 2023
Adopt GREET Act Reintroduced in the Senate
On October 17, 2023, Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) reintroduced the Adopt Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) Act (S. 3055), a bipartisan bill directing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its greenhouse gas (GHG) modeling for all renewable fuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). According to Thune’s October 17, 2023, press release, the bill would require EPA to apply the Argonne National Lab’s...
October 31, 2023
Waste to Advanced Resources Matter Workshop Will Be Held November 15-16, 2023, in Raleigh, North Carolina
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on October 19, 2023, that North Carolina State University will hold the Waste to Advanced Resources Matter (WARM) workshop November 15-16, 2023, in Raleigh, North Carolina. With support from BETO, and in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, IBM, the Town of Cary, and Idaho National Laboratory, the workshop will bring together participants interested in carbon resource recovery from...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 19, 2023, a proposed rule that would amend the procedural framework rule for conducting risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2023, the proposed rule states that the purpose of risk evaluations under TSCA is to determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, without considering costs or non-risk...
Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), will discuss long-term product stewardship trends with Indiana University School of Public Health Strategy & Management students.
ALI CLE's Environmental Law 2024 program will explore the latest developments in natural resources (air, water, species), climate, chemical, energy, and environmental justice; and what’s happening in Congress, the Supreme Court, and heading into another presidential election. Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, B&C, will present.
October 30, 2023
TSCA PFAS Reporting Rule Compliance: What Retailers Need to Know, November 8, 2023, via webinar
B&C is pleased to present "TSCA PFAS Reporting Rule Compliance" to members of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA). This webinar will cover the final per-and-polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reporting rule, its implications, and practical steps to take to prepare to comply.
October 30, 2023
HCPA 2023 Annual Meeting, December 3-6, 2023, Fort Lauderdale, FL
HCPA’s Annual Meeting engages on the public policy issues that impact the household and commercial products industry. Thought leaders will discuss legislative and regulatory issues, information related to product registrations, sustainability, and industry trends. Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, B&C, will present on TSCA Section 6 risk management issues.
October 25, 2023
NanoHarmony Publishes White Paper on OECD Test Guideline Development
NanoHarmony published on October 13, 2023, a white paper entitled From Science to Regulation: The NanoHarmony White Paper on Test Guideline Development. NanoHarmony states that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Test Guidelines (TG) Programme helps to develop harmonized agreed methods that can be used by OECD member countries to implement their regulatory regimes. According to NanoHarmony, for regulations to be effective and for manufacturers to be able to...
October 20, 2023
NNI Nanoinformatics Conference and U.S.-EU NanoEHS COR Workshop Will Be Held in November 2023
The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Nanoinformatics Conference will be held November 15, 2023, immediately before the 11th meeting of the U.S.-European Union (EU) Nano Environmental, Health, and Safety (NanoEHS) Communities of Research (COR) on November 16-17, 2023. According to the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO), the Nanoinformatics Conference is being organized in support of the continued growth of the U.S. nanoinformatics research infrastructure and to foster...
October 19, 2023
EUON Study Identifies Models and Tools for Computational Safety Assessment of Nanomaterials
The European Union (EU) Observatory for Nanomaterials (EUON) announced on October 10, 2023, that it published “A study on valid in silico modelling tools and read-across approaches, including creation of case studies on read-across for specific (types of) nanomaterials” that analyzes read-across and in silico approaches as alternative methods to conventional hazard and risk assessments for nanomaterials. According to EUON, the study identifies 190 alternative models and methodologies for...
October 18, 2023
2023 Center for PFAS Research Annual Symposium, October 22 – 24, 2023, East Lansing, MI
The 2023 Center for PFAS Research 2nd Annual Symposium will focus on the theme of PFAS: Current Knowledge and Applications for Food Production. The symposium will allow participants to exchange scientific information and discoveries while also discussing PFAS contamination in agricultural systems, transport into crops and livestock, remediation, policy, and emerging issues of PFAS. James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant, B&C and Acta, will present a legal perspective on PFAS...
October 18, 2023
California Attorney General Issues Enforcement Advisory Letter to Warn Companies of Responsibility to Disclose Presence of PFAS
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the release of an enforcement advisory letter on October 17, 2023, to manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of food packaging and cookware, alerting them to their obligations under AB 1200, a recently enacted statute that restricts the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging and imposes labeling disclosure requirements for cookware. Bonta also issued a consumer alert with tips for reducing PFAS exposures. The...
TSCA/FIFRA/TRI EPA Releases Final Guidance For New Pesticide Applications And Registration Review Activities That Require Endangered Species Act Reviews: On September 14, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of final guidance to improve the efficiency of EPA’s Endangered Species Act (ESA) analyses for new pesticide active ingredient applications and active ingredients undergoing registration review. EPA states this guidance fulfills requirements outlined...
The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources’ (SEER) Pesticides and Chemicals Committee’s presents “Careers in Chemicals,” a webinar on October 20, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. (EDT). This event will feature a panel of experienced attorneys who will discuss their legal careers, why they focus their practice on chemical regulatory/litigation issues (such as the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA),...
October 10, 2023
ACI Recognizes “Early Adopters” of Sustainable Feedstocks Initiative
On September 18, 2023, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) recognized member companies that have been “early adopters” of its Sustainable Feedstocks Initiative, “aimed to drive the use of more sustainable feedstocks in cleaning product ingredients and products throughout the industry.” ACI states that the initiative focused on the top raw materials used in cleaning products. For the purposes of this initiative, ACI defines a sustainable feedstock as “a raw or recycled material...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 6, 2023, that it is deploying application updates, supporting new requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Confidential Business Information (CBI) Procedural Rule, within its electronic reporting site Central Data Exchange (CDX). EPA states that the deployments will update the applications requiring CBI substantiations to be provided within the application instead of requiring substantiation documents/templates...