Articles

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....

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....

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...

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....

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...

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...

Publicly traded companies are required, under Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, to disclose known and contingent material liabilities to ensure investors have reliable information on which to base their investment decisions. Increasingly, investor groups, nongovernment organizations (NGO), and others demand companies assess and disclose their financial risks from climate change. Following are recent developments advising that companies carefully consider how best to address...

Approximately 5.4 million cubic yards, or 1.1 billion gallons, of coal ash from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plant near Knoxville, Tenn., in December 2008 flooded some 300 acres of land, damaging property, polluting waterways, and killing fish. TVA will likely spend more than $500 million and perhaps as much as $1 billion dollars on the cleanup, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The TVA debacle was EPA’s wake-up call for potential hazards presented...

On April 15, 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final list of chemicals in the first group of substances that will be screened under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). Development of this list caps a long, thoughtful, and arduous administrative process that spans over a decade. This “Washington Watch” column briefly reviews the development of the program, with emphasis on key elements of the current EDSP. The discussion also highlights the...