Chemicals are the foundational origin of just about everything we enjoy and cannot live without. The federal law that authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate industrial chemical substances is the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), an almost 47-year-old law significantly amended in 2016 by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg). Lautenberg’s passage was a bipartisan triumph marking the do-over of a law that many...
January 10, 2023
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Chemical Compliance: FTC To Revise Green Guides, Again,” Chemical Processing, January 10, 2023.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is tinkering with the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (Green Guides). Given the growing appeal of “green claims” for a variety of products, it is fitting the FTC is refining and modernizing the Green Guides to help marketers avoid making environmental marketing claims that are unfair or deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act. Importantly, the FTC seeks to update the guides “based on increasing consumer...
December 14, 2022
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Sticker Shock: TSCA Fees Could Soon Be a Lot More Expensive,” Chemical Processing, December 13, 2022.
On Nov. 16, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a supplemental proposal modifying its 2021 proposed rule that would amend the 2018 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) fees rule. The EPA’s assistant administrator warned us to be prepared for sticker shock. The proposed increases are significant. This article discusses what you need to know....
October 25, 2022
Lynn L. Bergeson, “OSHA Considers Revisions to Process Safety Management Standard,” Chemical Processing, October 25, 2022.
In August, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it is considering revisiting the Process Safety Management (PSM) standard. This column summarizes why OSHA is thinking of amending the standard and what you can do to engage in the process....
October 12, 2022
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Toxics Regulation: A Brave New World Catching Many Off Guard,” PLI Current, Vol. 6 (2022).
Given the passage of time since the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was enacted in 1976, the public’s growing awareness of the potential for exposure from chemicals in “articles,” or finished goods, during use, and greater focus on the implications of end-of-life product disposal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of articles under TSCA has shifted significantly. Historically, EPA elected not to regulate articles for the most part. EPA’s more recent...
September 23, 2022
Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Targets PFAS Cleanup,” Chemical Processing, September 23, 2022.
Cleanup costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) are about to get a lot more expensive. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 6, 2022, that it will propose to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), two of the most widely used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as hazardous substances under CERCLA. The rulemaking would also require entities immediately to report...
September 15, 2022
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Due diligence in mergers and acquisitions involving chemical products,” Financier Worldwide, October 2022.
The scope of what diligence is due in any corporate transaction has evolved greatly over the past decade, particularly with respect to transactions involving chemical products. Once upon a time, transactional due diligence involving chemical products, whether ‘neat’ (pure) chemicals, formulations or end-use products, typically consisted of a phase I or phase II environmental site assessment (ESA) focusing on identifying contamination derivative of chemical releases into environmental media...
August 22, 2022
Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Holds Webinar on PFAS Strategic Roadmap: Research Tools and Resources,” Finishing & Coating, August 22, 2022.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held a webinar on August 17, on the “EPA PFAS Strategic Roadmap: Research Tools and Resources.” The webinar provided a brief overview of EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and ongoing efforts by EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) to address key per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) research needs for environmental decision-making. ...
August 16, 2022
Lynn L. Bergeson and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., “Optimizing the Toxic Substances Control Act to Achieve Greener Chemicals,” NR&E, Summer 2022.
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) offers tremendous unrealized potential to promote the development of more sustainable industrial chemicals. Despite the fact that Congress significantly amended TSCA in 2016 specifically to diminish the human health and environmental footprint of industrial chemicals, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is interpreting the revised law in ways that ironically discourage the commercialization of new chemicals and reinforce a “new chemical...
August 15, 2022
Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Eases TSCA Testing Demands,” Chemical Processing, August 15, 2022.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued two new documents for recipients of Section 4 test orders under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The good news is these documents offer relief to stakeholders who otherwise would be responsible for chemical testing costs for certain chemicals they produced or imported....