Hundreds of U.S. businesses have already received in the mail test orders issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for initial endocrine screening under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). Hundreds more will receive orders later this year. How recipients respond to an EDSP test order can present challenging issues. This article explains why.
Last issue’s installment of the “Washington Watch” column discussed some key issues surrounding nanosilver and noted an ongoing review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP). Now that the SAP has issued its much-anticipated report and recommendations, it is worth revisiting the topic of nanosilver pesticides.
Nanoscale materials may figure in Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform. While not mentioning "nanotechnology," a bill introduced on April 15, by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) addresses chemicals with "special substantive characteristics." The bill authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to evaluate and compel data on new/special uses of existing chemicals "separate from any use of the chemical substance that does not exhibit such special substance characteristics" or on...
July 2, 2010
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Legal Lookout: Endocrine Disruptors: Test Orders Abound,” Pollution Engineering, June 2010.
In April 2009, EPA identified a final list of 67 chemicals for initial screening under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). From October 2009 to April 2010, the agency issued more than 700 test orders. Responding to an EDSP test order can present challenging issues. The agency began implementing this mandate well over a decade ago through the EDSP.
The arsenic Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment exemplifies the current administration’s unwillingness to walk its own talk on transparency and scientific integrity.
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) allows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to keep a list of chemicals that present or may present ‘‘an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.’’ This authority has not been used since TSCA was enacted in 1976. In April, EPA said it intends to propose a rule to add a category of eight phthalates, a category of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and bisphenol A to such a list. In this article, the authors explore EPA’s...
James V. Aidala began working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a college intern in the Office of Pesticide Programs; he returned as a policy analyst in the new Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPTS) after graduate school. From Aidala’s perspective, there was much uncertainty in the early years of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), in part due to challenges with the law’s specificity regarding polychlorinated biphenyls and, later, asbestos and lead, and in part...
Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed lifting its 1994 administrative stay of Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Section 313 reporting requirements for hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Following is an explanation of why some are concerned, why EPA proposed lifting the stay, and why reporting may be unnecessary in the first place.
May 18, 2010
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Chemical Pollutants in Water Emerge,” Chemical Processing, April 2010.
Recent advances in contaminant identification methodologies, sampling instrumentation, and analytical chemistry have caused an explosion of knowledge about the presence of previously undetected organic micropollutants. While it doesn't follow that the mere presence of chemical contaminants results in harm, public health experts, regulators, and others aren't sitting idly by.
A Recent co-authored paper discussed a number of fundamental changes in U.S. regulation of commercial chemicals that should be considered in revising the Toxic Substances Control Act. As discussed in that paper, while the Environmental Protection Agency under TSCA has broad authority to require testing and reporting of hazard and exposure information on existing chemicals via rulemaking, deploying these authorities have proven cumbersome and inadequate for dealing effectively with the thousands...
April 13, 2010
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Nanosilver: EPA’s Pesticide Office Considers How Best to Proceed,” Environmental Quality Management, Spring 2010.
In the super-hyped world of nano, nanosilver is the proverbial poster child for all things good and evil, depending upon your perspective. Silver enjoys many commercial applications, and its well recognized antimicrobial properties have been utilized since the beginnings of recorded history. Perhaps because of this success and high visibility, some are taking aim at silver and questioning whether there is too much silver used in industrial applications -- and in particular whether there is too...
Late last December, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced action plans on phthalates, long-chain chlorinated paraffins (LCCPs), and short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs). The four action plans are the first of many, as EPA intends to issue eight more or so in 2010. This EPA initiative announces actions that are almost breathtaking in scope, and its development and implementation of the action plan items will set a number of new precedents -- and...
March 1, 2010
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Aligning Chemicals Labeling with Global Rules Involves Major Efforts,” Chemical Processing, March 2010.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began the Herculean task of aligning the U.S.'s Hazardous Communication Standard (HCS) with the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) in September 2009. GHS provides harmonized criteria for classifying chemicals according to their health and physical hazards, and specifies hazard communication elements for labeling and creating safety data sheets (SDS).
February 3, 2010
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Disclosure Protection May Narrow,” Chemical Processing, February 2010.
A business' ability to claim information as confidential when submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may soon be at risk, based on several EPA initiatives rolled out over the past year. As Congress gears up for Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) legislative reform, stakeholders are preparing for changes in the scope of confidential business information (CBI) protection under TSCA.
February 1, 2010
Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Moves Closer to GHG Control,” Pollution Engineering, February 2010.
EPA has put itself on the path toward greenhouse gas regulation, but in Congress, the courts, and the international community, the debate rages on. On Dec. 7, 2009, EPA moved one step closer to imposing the first ever set of enforceable greenhouse gas (GHG) standards on tailpipe emissions from vehicles, and a requirement that large power plants and industrial emitters install best available control technology (BACT) to reduce emissions.
January 22, 2010
Lynn L. Bergeson, “OSHA Kicks Off the ‘Chemical NEP’,” Environmental Quarterly Management, Winter 2009.
With little fanfare, the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has rolled out its much anticipated “PSM Covered Chemical Facilities National Emphasis Program.” This one-year pilot program, launched in July 2009, focuses on facilities’ compliance with the OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) standard,1 which aims to blunt the hazard of fires or explosions resulting from releases of “highly hazardous chemicals.” This “Washington Watch” column reviews the...
January 18, 2010
Lynn L. Bergeson, “FIFRA SAP Convenes First Nano Review,” NanoBusiness Alliance Newsletter, Issue 13, January 18, 2010.
On November 3-5, 2009, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) met to consider for the first time scientific issues related to the assessment of potential hazard and exposure associated with nanosilver and other nanometal pesticide products. This column briefly summarizes the discussion, and speculates on the outcome.
January 18, 2010
Lynn L. Bergeson and Leslie Scott MacDougall, co-authors, “Turkey Enacts REACH-Like Chemical Program,” Chemical Regulation Reporter, January 18, 2010.
In December 2008, Turkey enacted the Inventory and Control of Chemicals Regulation, a scaled-down version of the European Union’s REACH regulation to establish an inventory of chemicals produced and imported into Turkey and to better control potential risks posed by those chemical substances. Adoption of the regulation is one of many steps Turkey is required to take to secure membership in the European Union. The authors of this article advise chemical manufacturers and importers to obtain as...
January 1, 2010
Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Takes Unprecedented Action,” Chemical Processing, January 2010.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 30, 2009, issued a breathtaking series of action plans on "Risk List" chemicals that will shape future legislative proposals which industry will need to participate in and monitor.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed on Sept. 30, 2009, to align the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) with provisions of the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The HCS requires chemical manufacturers and importers to evaluate chemical hazards and provide information to subsequent users. The standard now requires employers to establish a hazard communication program for employees who are exposed to chemicals...