On December 7, 2021, the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittees on Environment and on Research and Technology held a joint hearing entitled “Forever Chemicals: Research and Development for Addressing the PFAS Problem.” Four witnesses spoke before the subcommittees on their respective knowledge of the current state of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and where each felt future actions should be focused: Dr. Elsie Sunderland, Gordon McKay Professor of...
November 24, 2021
EPA Announces Legally Mandated Changes to TSCA Fees
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 23, 2021, legally mandated changes to the fee requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This is not the fee adjustment we have been awaiting. It is a routine increase that TSCA directs EPA every three years to adjust the fees. The adjustment will go into effect on January 1, 2022, and will apply to all TSCA fees. The fee adjustment will not be retroactive and will not...
November 24, 2021
Senate Bill Would Amend FIFRA to Prohibit Dangerous Pesticides and Cancel Registrations of Organophosphates, Neonicotinoids, and Paraquat
On November 23, 2021, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) announced his intention to reintroduce the Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act of 2021, that would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) “to [protect fully] the safety of children and the environment, to remove dangerous pesticides from use, and for other purposes.” Similar legislation was introduced in the House (H.R. 7940) and Senate (S. 4406) in 2020, but the bills did not...
November 12, 2021
Infrastructure Bill Includes Provisions Important to Chemical and Agriculture Sectors
On November 8, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) was presented to President Joseph Biden (D) for signature. The House passed the bill on November 5, 2021, by a vote of 228 to 206, and the Senate passed the bill on August 10, 2021, by a vote of 69 to 30. The bill contains many important provisions. We highlight below some of the provisions in the 1,039-page bill that we believe our clients and...
October 28, 2021
House Committee Holds Hearing on “TSCA and Public Health: Fulfilling the Promise of the Lautenberg Act”
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change held a hearing on October 27, 2021, on “TSCA and Public Health: Fulfilling the Promise of the Lautenberg Act.” The October 25, 2021, briefing memorandum notes that the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (the Lautenberg Act) comprehensively amended the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), “including key reforms to increase [the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)]...
October 25, 2021
EPA Proposes Further Extension of Compliance Dates for PIP (3:1)-Containing Articles
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 21, 2021, that it is proposing to extend further the compliance dates related to articles containing phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)) to ensure supply chains for key consumer and commercial goods are not disrupted. As reported in our September 3, 2021, memorandum that addresses a September 17, 2021, final rule, EPA provided a short-term extension of certain compliance dates for PIP (3:1)...
October 21, 2021
Senate Committee Holds Hearing on “Evaluating the Federal Response to the Persistence and Impacts of PFAS Chemicals on our Environment”
On October 20, 2021, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing on “Evaluating the Federal Response to the Persistence and Impacts of PFAS Chemicals on our Environment.” The sole witness called before the Committee was the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator for the Office of Water, Radhika Fox. The focus of the hearing was to address the recently released EPA Strategic Roadmap for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)....
October 19, 2021
Biden Administration Announces Multi-Agency Plan to Confront PFAS Pollution; EPA Releases Strategic Roadmap
On October 18, 2021, the Biden Administration announced a multi-agency plan to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination nationwide. According to the White House, agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), will take actions to...
October 13, 2021
Ninth Edition of GHS Includes Revisions to Chapter 2.1 (Explosives) and Decision Logic
On September 14, 2021, the United Nations (UN) published an electronic version of the ninth revised edition (Rev 9) of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) available for free for consultation purposes. The amendments to the eighth revision of the GHS (Rev 8) include extensive revision of Chapter 2.1 (explosives) to address explosion hazard determination better when explosives are not in transit; the revision of decision logic; the revision of...
The United Kingdom (UK) Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published a UK REACH: Grandfathered Registrations Notified Substances List. According to an item in the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) October 1, 2021, UK REACH eBulletin, the list contains the names and Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS)/European Community (EC) numbers for substances taken from notifications made under UK REACH Article 127B(4)(a). Article 127B(4)(a) required registrants of a...