By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 7, 2019, Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding opportunity of up to $89 million in support of innovative, advanced manufacturing research and development (R&D) projects. The opportunity aims to tackle key DOE priorities, which include domestic manufacturing for energy storage. Perry stated that “[e]mbracing new technologies that drive innovation in American manufacturing is the key to creating real-world progress that...
Category: General
May 9, 2019
NIA Webinar on Nanosafety Available on YouTube
The Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA), a “cross-sectoral, responsible voice for nanotechnology value chains and the global commercial eco-system,” hosts frequent webinars and then posts the webinars on its YouTube channel. On May 7, 2019, NIA held a webinar on “Nano in Action: Nanosafety.” Participants heard about the latest research and support tools intended to advance the development of safe materials from speakers involved in human and environmental safety research...
On April 29, 2019, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) announced InnoMat.Life, a joint research project to establish criteria for an efficient assessment of the human health and environmental risks of novel (nano) materials. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is providing 2.22 million euro to fund the project, which will be coordinated by BfR and includes ten partners from public authorities, academia, and industry. BfR states that until now, nanosafety...
On May 3, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was seeking comments on the experts who are candidates to serve as ad hoc panelists for the review of EPA’s Draft Product Performance Test Guidelines OCSPP 810.3300: Treatments Topically Applied to Pets to Control Certain Invertebrate Ectoparasitic Pests. The candidate list is available on EPA’s Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel...
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) April 2019 issue of its Chemical Safety and Biosafety Progress Report includes an update on OECD’s work to determine the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. The Report notes that the applicability of OECD Test Guidelines for nanomaterials continues to be a major concern of the work of the Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN). WPMN agreed to work on three new projects related to testing...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 25, 2019, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) held an event to provide an overview of their latest publication, a book titled Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States. Providing an overview of the book, a few of the authors were part of a panel discussion opened by William K. Reilly, former EPA Administrator under President George H. W. Bush. In his opening remarks, Mr. Reilly emphasized the potential existing with politics to change culture to...
Each spring chemical distributors and their supply chain partners from around the country meet with their elected officials in Washington, DC to educate Members of Congress and push for important policy goals. Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®),was a proud sponsor of the 2019 NACD Washington Fly-In.
The Household & Commercial Products Association's (HCPA) IMPACT2019 mid-year meeting focused on challenges and opportunities facing the household and commercial products industry. Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), presented "TSCA Risk Evaluation and Regulatory Issues: Do You Feel Me Now?" B&C was a proud sponsor.
On May 1, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) sent a memorandum to Alexandria Dapolito Dunn, Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, announcing that it “plans to begin preliminary research on the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics processes to implement the work to meet statutory deadlines of the Lautenberg Act.” OIG’s objectives are to determine whether EPA has met the deadlines...
Registration Now Open For “TSCA: Three Years Later”: Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health are pleased to present the one day conference “TSCA: Three Years Later” on June 24, 2019. Panelists Alexandra Dunn, Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Lynn R....
The Acta Group (Acta®) was pleased to present the complimentary webinar “Preserving Cosmetics on a Global Scale: It is Harder than You Think.” Karin F. Baron, MSPH, Senior Regulatory Consultant, Acta; Scott J. Burya, Ph.D., Regulatory Chemist, Acta; and Jane S. Vergnes, Ph.D., DABT®, Vice President, Scientific Affairs and Director of Toxicology, Acta, presented.
On April 30, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would be hosting two webinars for companies, organizations, and individuals required to report under the Mercury Inventory Reporting Rule of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The final rule applies to any person who manufactures (including imports) mercury or mercury-added products, or otherwise intentionally uses mercury in a manufacturing process (including processes traditionally not subject to TSCA,...
On March 5-6, 2019, a workshop on “Fostering EU‐U.S. Cooperation in Nanosafety” was held. According to the workshop report, the workshop intended to answer two main questions: What should be the future research priorities in nanosafety and other advanced materials; and What are the opportunities for European Union (EU)‐U.S. cooperation priorities in nanosafety. The discussion was based on the state of implementation of the 2013 report, Nanosafety in Europe...
April 26, 2019
Recommendations on Priorities for IARC Monographs Include Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes, Nanomaterials
An Advisory Group of 29 scientists from 18 countries met on March 25-27, 2019, to recommend priorities for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monographs program during 2020-2024. The Advisory Group assessed the response to a public call for nominations and considered more than 170 unique candidate agents, including the recommended priorities remaining from a similar Advisory Group meeting convened in 2014. The Advisory Group deliberated on all nominated agents both by...
On April 26, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (D.C. Circuit) issued its order on petition for review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Requirements (82 Fed. Reg. 37520 (Aug. 11, 2017)), which denied the petition for review on all but one claim. Petitioner Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) challenged five distinct features of the Inventory final rule: ...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 17, 2019, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France, and Frank Edelson, Chair of the Network for Greening the Financial Services (NGFS), published an open letter on the financial implications of global warming. Co-signed by the NGFS coalition, consisting of 34 central banks, the letter warns of global warming’s potential damage to infrastructure and private property, negative human health...
April 26, 2019
IRFA Speaks Against SREs For The 2018 RFS Blend Levels
By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 17, 2019, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA), a Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®) member, spoke at a press conference alongside Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, on how the approval of small-refinery exemptions (SRE) for the 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) blend levels would undermine RFS in an irreversible way. IRFA’s Executive Director, Monte Shaw, pointed out that under current conditions all a refinery...
We have a repeat guest this week: fan favorite, Dr. Richard Engler, Bergeson & Campbell’s Director of Chemistry and Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) guru-in-residence. I sat down with Rich to find out more about so-called “New Chemicals” and the challenges faced by not only new chemical manufacturers, but also by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in trying to fulfill its duties as a regulatory gatekeeper. As a seasoned veteran of EPA himself, where he worked for...
April 25, 2019
EPA Proposes TSCA CDR Revisions and Update to Small Manufacturer Definition for TSCA Section 8(a)
On April 25, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule that would amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) requirements and the TSCA Section 8(a) size standards for small manufacturers. 84 Fed. Reg. 17692. The current CDR rule requires manufacturers (including importers) of certain chemical substances listed on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory (TSCA Inventory) to report data on chemical manufacturing,...
On April 23, 2019, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a Federal Register notice inviting comment on a proposed information collection project entitled “Survey of Engineered Nanomaterial Occupational Safety and Health Practices.” The goal of the project is to assess the relevance and impact of NIOSH’s contribution to guidelines and risk mitigation practices for the safe handling of engineered nanomaterials in the workplace. ...