News & Events

On January 29, 2019, Inside EPA quoted Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), in the article “EPA Faces New Backlog Of Chemical Applications After Shutdown Ends.” A draft framework the agency crafted in 2017 to speed PMN reviews drew widespread criticisms from environmentalists and others, forcing Wheeler to pledge late last year that the agency would reconsider the most recent draft review plan. But the shutdown will bring...

On January 28, 2019, Bloomberg Environment quoted Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) resuming work after the government shutdown. Employees in the Environmental Protection Agency’s chemicals office may be able to begin their normal tasks reviewing new and evaluating the risks of existing ones by the end of this week, said Richard Engler, director of chemistry at...

On January 25, 2019, Bloomberg Environment spoke with Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), for the article “New York Pushes Back Cleaning Products’ Disclosure Deadline.” Cleaning product manufacturers and their suppliers are hard put to comply with both New York’s and California’s ingredient disclosure requirements because they are dissimilar, said Lynn Bergeson, managing partner of Bergeson and Campbell PC, a Washington,...

On January 24, 2019, Chemical Watch spoke with Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), for the article “Shutdown-related delays could compromise TSCA statutory deadlines.” Lynn Bergeson, managing partner at Bergeson & Campbell, said that the shutdown is stretching the limits of what the EPA is capable of completing in terms of TSCA implementation. “I am concerned simply because we all live in the real world, and...

On January 18, 2019, Inside EPA spoke with Kathleen M. Roberts, Senior Regulatory Consultant, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), for the article “EPA’s Fee Rule Takes Effect Without Suit, A First For TSCA Framework.” Kathleen Roberts, a senior regulatory consultant at the law firm Bergeson & Campbell, suggested that the clarity of the statute regarding fees dissuaded critics from challenging EPA’s final rule. “I believe that there were no challenges...

On January 18, 2019, Bloomberg Environment featured comments by James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant with Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), regarding delayed pesticide product approvals. The EPA also processes thousands of applications for so-called “me-too” chemicals—pesticides that are nearly identical to other products already on the market. “EPA is normally able to process those applications pretty quickly,” said Jim Aidala, a government...

On January 18, 2019, Inside EPA extensively quoted Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s (B&C®) Forecast 2019 in the article “EPA Shutdown Stymies Looming TSCA Assessment, Rule Deadlines.” Observers are also waiting for EPA to publish its updated TSCA inventory, the list of all existing chemicals, after receiving submissions from industry on which chemicals are deemed active — manufactured, processed or imported within the past decade — or inactive. Its...

On January 16, 2019, Chemical Watch spoke with Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), for the article “Shutdown spells further delays to TSCA new chemicals reviews.” “Until we have information from the agency, we are more or less assuming that [new chemical review processes] are all suspended, Lynn Bergeson, managing partner at Bergeson & Campbell, told Chemical Watch. And the fear for many is that the shutdown will exacerbate...

On January 11, 2019, Bloomberg Environment spoke with Kathleen M. Roberts, Senior Regulatory Consultant, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), for the article “Chemical Makers’ Data Duties Delayed by Shutdown.” “Assuming the proposed changes are not major, the delay in releasing the proposed [Chemical Data Reporting] rule is an inconvenience rather than a block impeding chemical manufacturers ability to do business,” said Kathleen M. Roberts, a vice president at...

On January 7, 2019, Inside EPA featured comments by James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant with Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), regarding new efforts to reauthorize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA) program. EPA’s authority to collect fees lapsed Dec. 21 when lawmakers failed to approve legislation funding EPA and other agencies, depriving them of a legislative vehicle to which they...

On January 7, 2019, Bloomberg Environment quoted Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, B&C, regarding U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s pledge to make public more information about chemical safety decisions. Richard Engler, director of chemistry at Bergeson & Campbell PC, described Wheeler’s promises as reflecting “EPA’s...

On December 21, 2018, Bloomberg Environment featured comments by Christopher R. Bryant, Senior Regulatory Consultant, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) plan to update coal ash disposal requirements. The changes are consistent with the agency’s preference for states to take the lead on setting their own disposal requirements, Christopher Bryant, senior regulatory consultant for Bergeson & Campbell PC in...

On December 20, 2018, Bloomberg Environment spoke with Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), for the article “‘Calamitous’ Harm Possible for EPA Chemical Program in Shutdown.” Shutting the government down could have particularly severe effects on the EPA’s oversight of chemicals in commerce and further delay the entry of new chemicals onto the market, two attorneys specializing in chemical policy told Bloomberg Environment. “If...

On December 19, 2018, Bloomberg Environment spoke with Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), for the article “2019 Outlook: ‘Most Active Year Yet’ Looms on EPA Chemical Rules.” The EPA didn’t reply to a question about how many people are working in its chemicals office but said it was allowed to hire up to 340 in fiscal year 2018, an increase from 311 in the previous year. The agency said it couldn’t comment on...

On November 28, 2018, Inside EPA included information on Lek Kadeli’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appointment first posted in Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s (B&C®) TSCAblogTM post “EPA Announces New Acting Deputy AA at OCSPP.” Lek Kadeli, a top former EPA career official in the research office (ORD), is joining the management team for EPA’s toxics office, bolstering the office as it ramps up to implement the revised Toxic Substances Control Act...

On November 26, 2018, Inside EPA included information from Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s (B&C®) memorandum “EPA Publishes First Draft TSCA Chemical Risk Evaluation” in the article “EPA’s PV29 Assessment Likely to Test Reformed TSCA’s Data Standards.” In a Nov. 16 memo on the draft’s release, the law firm Bergeson and Campbell suggests that there may be little reason to challenge the agency’s finding though it leaves the door open to...

On November 14, 2018, Inside EPA spoke with Christopher R. Bryant, Senior Regulatory Consultant, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), for the article “EPA Eases RCRA For Airbag Removals But Keeps Hazardous Waste Status.” [W]hile dealers and others removing the airbags will be conditionally exempt under the new rule, others further down the waste stream will not, says Chris Bryant, a former EPA waste official who is now a senior regulatory consultant with Bergeson...

On November 13, 2018, Charles M. Auer, Senior Regulatory and Policy Advisor, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), was quoted by Inside EPA regarding Congress’ plan to oversee the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). “There may be some bipartisan oversight on nuts and bolts questions. But my guess is that each side will generally focus questions on ‘their’ issues and concerns,” says...

On November 12, 2018, Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry for Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), was featured on National Public Radio’s (NPR) morning news program “Morning Edition” during a segment on the chemical methylene chloride.  Reporter Rebecca Hersher asked Dr. Engler, a 17-year veteran of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) and leader of EPA’s Green Chemistry Program, about EPA’s...

On November 6, 2018, Bloomberg Environment quoted Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), regarding new chemical rules. Before 2016, the EPA took regulatory action on 10-15 percent of new chemicals, clearing the way for 85-90 percent of new compounds to proceed without restrictions, Richard Engler, Bergeson and Campbell PC’s director of chemistry, said. But since the amendments to the nation’s primary chemicals law passed in...