Articles

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.

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."

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) prepared a June 28, 2016, report, Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer. The report provides an overview of federal research and development (R&D) in nanotechnology, U.S. competitiveness in the field, environmental, health, and safety (EHS) concerns, nanomanufacturing, and public understanding of and attitudes toward nanotechnology. According to the report, while more than 60 nations established similar programs after the launch of the National...

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.

In-house counsel unfamiliar with the tsunami-like changes in domestic chemical management headed our way soon may wish to read this article. If you think for a second that the extensive revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) expected to be enacted imminently do not impact your legal practice or your client’s business operations, think again. TSCA reform impacts virtually every business sector in the United States, and will continue to do so for years to come. Here are the reasons...

On May 3, 3016, Mexico's Ministry of Economy published a notice beginning a public consultation on two draft nanotechnology standards. ISO/TS 80004-5:2011 lists terms and definitions related to the interface between nanomaterials and biology. It is intended to facilitate communications between scientists, engineers, technologists, designers, manufacturers, regulators, non-governmental organizations (NGO), consumer organizations, members of the public, and others.

On May 31, 2016, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) began a public consultation on a harmonized classification and labeling (CLH) proposal submitted by France for titanium dioxide. The CLH report states: "Based on available evidence and information in the registration dossier (e.g. mechanism of carcinogenicity, characterization of the particles), the proposed scope for the Annex VI entry is: ‘Titanium dioxide in all phases and phase combinations; particles in all sizes/morphologies.'"

On March 14, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed much-anticipated amendments to the Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations. This column summarizes the proposed amendments and industry’s response to them. The genesis of the proposal is President Obama’s Executive Order (EO) 13650, which was issued in the aftermath of the catastrophic explosion that occurred in April 2013 that claimed 15 lives in West, Texas. The EO requires various federal agencies to develop...

On April 29, 2016, Australia's National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) published the third consultation paper on its reform initiative. See https://www.nicnas.gov.au/about-nicnas/nicnas-reforms/consultation-paper-3 and https://www.nicnas.gov.au/about-nicnas/nicnas-reforms Under the reforms, the requirements to establish that a new chemical can be classified as being not hazardous to human health or the environment, and therefore falls in Hazard...

On May 11, 2016, the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) will hold a webinar for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) that will focus on the experiences, successes, and challenges for SMEs working in nanotechnology and on issues of interest to the business community. See http://www.nano.gov/node/160  The National Science Foundation's Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing, at Northeastern University's College of Engineering in Boston, will host the webinar.

Registration is now open for the June 6-7, 2016, U.S.-European Union (EU) "Bridging NanoEHS Research Efforts" joint workshop. See https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-wZatJVQ3b9LSx9rrJeeEZqFO-8DZVs-80txK-9DBmQ/viewform and http://us-eu.org/2016%20-us-eu-nanoehs-workshop/ The workshop will bring together the U.S.-EU Communities of Research (COR), which serve as a platform for U.S. and EU scientists to share information on nanotechnology environmental, health, and safety (nanoEHS)...

On April 18, 2016, the Silver Nanotechnology Working Group (SNWG) submitted comments on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's (NIOSH) draft NIOSH Current Intelligence Bulletin: Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials. See https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=CDC-2016-0001-0017 and https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=CDC-2016-0001-0002 The draft Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) includes a review and...

On March 25, 2016, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its long-awaited revised standards for occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica (81 Fed. Reg. 16286). OSHA issued two separate standards — one for general industry and maritime, and the other for the construction industry — to tailor requirements to the unique circumstances found in these sectors. The rule impacts more than 2.3-million American workers across a wide spectrum of industries,...

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform has been a “work in progress” for years. House and Senate passage in 2015 of substantive TSCA reform measures considerably improved the odds that Congress would enact TSCA-reform legislation in 2016. Recent events suggest otherwise, however, and as of this writing in mid-March the fate of TSCA reform remains decidedly uncertain. Momentum has dissipated as a dithering House has been slow to engage with Senate counterparts to reconcile the different...

On January 26, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) pesticide general permit (PGP) for public comment. The publication marks the first reissuance of the PGP since its inception in 2011. The Sixth Circuit’s decision in National Cotton Council v. EPA, F.3d 927 (6th Cir. 2009), which vacated EPA’s 2007 rule exempting pesticides from NPDES permitting, required EPA to issue the PGP. In October 2011, EPA...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on March 23, 2016, a new publication co-authored with the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and Joint Research Center (JRC) that illustrates how to use data for different nanoforms within the same substance registration.

The February 24, 2016, Official Journal of the European Union includes the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on "Nanotechnology for a competitive chemical industry."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on February 25, 2016, amendments to the accidental release prevention requirements of the Risk Management Programs (RMP) under the Clean Air Act Section 112(r)(7). This column summarizes this important proposed rule.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently published the following reports: Physical-chemical properties of nanomaterials- Evaluation of methods applied in the OECD-WPMN testing programme and categorisation of manufactured nanomaterials workshop report. 

Prompted by a 2013 Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) report on hazardous waste exports from the United States (CEC, 2013) and changes to the 2001 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Council Decision for waste exports and imports, the United States  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 19, 2015, proposed changes to its regulations under the Resource Conversation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regarding the export and import of hazardous...