News & Events

Co-hosted by the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG™), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and George Washington University (GWU) August 5-7, 2014, at the GWU Campus in Washington, D.C. ABOUT THE WORKSHOP: During this hands-on three-day workshop, you will learn about a variety of tools, methods, and models that can be used to assess the hazard and potential exposure of chemicals. Methods addressed will include hazard and risk screening for human health,...

Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report reported on Lynn L. Bergeson’s comments regarding final nanotechnology guidances released by the Food and Drug Administration. “The guidances reaffirm the FDA’s position that it has sufficient statutory authorities and policies to oversee the safety of products it regulates, Bergeson said. She expanded on that perspective in a memo her law firm issued. The FDA also restated its view that nanotechnology isn’t inherently safe or harmful, but that...

Far from slowing down as the dog days of summer approach, BRAG and its growing membership have been highly visible and actively working to smooth the regulatory path for, and advance the commercialization of, biobased chemicals. And the pace is only going to pick-up as the temperature rises. BRAG is: Shaping Biobased Policy BRAG is engaged with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff concerning BRAG's petition for reduced reporting requirements for certain biobased chemical substances...

Co-Editor-in-Chief Larry P. Walker, Ph.D., announced that Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and President of B&C Consortia Management, L.L.C. (BCCM), has been appointed to the editorial board of Industrial Biotechnology, the journal of biobased innovation driving the global bioeconomy published bimonthly by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Publishers. In making the announcement, Dr. Walker commented that "Ms. Bergeson's membership on the...

Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report quoted Lynn L. Bergeson and B&C affiliate Charles Auer in a Special Report on TSCA Reform published today. “Charles Auer, a consultant who led TSCA implementation throughout most of his 32-year career at the EPA, agreed it will be challenging to resolve the many valid questions that would arise on user fees. It would be unwise, however, to continue to ignore the question of funding in TSCA reform discussions, he said. ‘It’s always been...

“While the Democrats' changes seek to address many concerns Jones and environmentalists have raised, the redline avoids addressing the issue of whether and to what extent a new federal chemicals management law should preempt state regulation of industrial chemicals. The issue has become particularly fraught in the Senate, where Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has made protection of California's extensive chemical regulations in the Senate bill a...

On Thursday, May 29, 2014, Biofuels Digest published an article by Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG™) Executive Director Kathleen Roberts titled “How to Make Friends and Win EPA Approvals: tips for biobased chemicals.” A copy of the article is available online. The article highlights the B&C© affiliate BRAG™ and the session it co-presented with B&C during the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s World Congress on...

An article in the May 30, 2014 edition of Inside EPA, “Legal Limit May Drive Novel Voluntary Plan In EPA’s TSCA Fracking Rule,” featured commentary by B&C on EPA’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to seek comment on the information that should be reported or disclosed for hydraulic fracturing chemical substances and mixtures and the mechanism for obtaining this information. “In a May 20 analysis of the ANPR, the law firm Bergeson & Campbell also flags...

“In a May 20 analysis of the ANPR, the law firm Bergeson & Campbell also flags the ‘processors’ issue, saying the notice raises a host questions relating to ‘significant and difficult legal, procedural and policy issues. Noting that the ANPR includes service companies in its discussion of the companies that may be subject to Section 8 reporting, which ordinarily would not apply to ‘users,’ the analysis says, that though such service providers may ‘process’ the chemical while...

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