All Things Chemical® Podcast

The bipartisan 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) Amendments enacted extensive changes to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that many hoped would set the law on a new course, address its widely recognized challenges, and accelerate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions to address public health threats. Since then, four administrations have put their mark on implementation of the amended law. The past ten years have seemed like a...

The bipartisan 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) Amendments enacted extensive changes to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that many hoped would set the law on a new course, address its widely recognized challenges, and accelerate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions to address public health threats. Since then, four administrations have put their mark on implementation of the amended law. The past ten years have seemed like a...

The bipartisan 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) Amendments enacted extensive changes to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that many hoped would set the law on a new course, address its widely recognized challenges, and accelerate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions to address public health threats. Since then, four administrations have put their mark on implementation of the amended law. The past ten years have seemed like a...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with my colleague, Carla N. Hutton, Senior Regulatory Analyst for B&C, to discuss recent developments in state PFAS regulation. Carla and I visited a few months ago, but there have been so many recent developments, we thought we needed to visit again to ensure our listeners are well informed. We discuss what is new with PFAS reporting and labeling under the New Mexico PFAS Protection Act. New guidance is welcome, as there has been a lack of clarity...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Susanna W. Blair, Senior Director of Regulatory and Technical Affairs for the Consumer Brands Association (CBA), which represents the interests of the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) community. Having left the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after a distinguished career as a senior scientist and policy expert, Dr. Blair is putting her science policy chops to good use at CBA. We discuss CBA’s mission, its focus on food and...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with my new colleague, Richard J. Fehir, Ph.D., Senior Chemist/Regulatory Scientist, at B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group (Acta®), to discuss his career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and how he is now deploying his considerable scientific chops at B&C and Acta. Rick is a bit unusual, as he has worked for both EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) and Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP),...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Richard E. Engler, Director of Chemistry for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta®), our consulting affiliate, and Ryan N. Schmit, Of Counsel with B&C and Senior Regulatory Consultant with Acta, about the ever-tricky topic of confidential business information (CBI) -- what is it, how to protect it, and steps to take to avoid losing it. As listeners may know, the protection afforded certain information claimed CBI begins to sunset...

This week, I was pleased to welcome back to the studio Dana S. Lateulere, Regulatory Consultant with B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group (Acta®), and James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant at B&C and Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs, at Acta, to discuss the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) significant role in combating pathogens like those spreading the highly virulent Ebola virus and Hantavirus. Both Dana and Jim have extensive...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with my colleague, Carla N. Hutton, Senior Regulatory Analyst for B&C, to discuss emerging state per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) restrictions. As many listeners appreciate, dozens of states are considering, and others have enacted, state restrictions on a wide variety of products with the goal of eventually prohibiting the sale of products that contain intentionally added PFAS. Several states have implemented regulatory provisions that require,...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Ahna G. Brutlag, Vice President of Veterinary Services and Senior Veterinary Toxicologist at SafetyCall International, LLC and Pet Poison Helpline®. Impressively, Dr. Brutlag is a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Toxicology (ABVT) as well as a Diplomate of the human counterpart, the American Board of Toxicology (ABT), a distinction shared by fewer than 80 people in North America. Dr. Brutlag is at the forefront of adverse effects...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Molly R. Blessing, Vice President of Sustainability & Product Stewardship for the Household & Commercial Products Association (HCPA). We discuss a few of the fascinating and vexing challenges industry faces today in the complex world of product stewardship. We address the growing pains of conflicting state extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws, the challenges in California of labeling a product as recyclable, and making the case...

I was delighted this week to visit again with Alexandra Dunn, President and Chief Executive Officer of CropLife America (CLA), and my colleague Jim Aidala, to discuss some of the issues facing the crop protection industry. Alex’s amazing career has prepared her well for her demanding job. After graduating from law school and a brief stint in private practice, Alex served as general counsel for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, then went on to become the Executive...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with my colleagues, Catherina D. Narigon and L. Claire Hansen, both Associates with B&C and Regulatory Consultants with The Acta Group (Acta®), B&C’s consulting affiliate, about the complex world of end-of-life product management. We discuss extended producer responsibility (EPR), recyclability labeling requirements, and plastics and microplastics regulation and liability concerns. End-of-life product management is increasingly...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with my colleagues, Carla N. Hutton, Senior Regulatory Analyst for B&C, and Lindsay A. Holden, Ph.D., DABT, Senior Toxicologist/Regulatory Scientist for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta®), our consulting affiliate. We discuss the relentless pace of state per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulations. For those expecting a slowdown, think again. Perhaps in response to perceived inaction at the federal level, over half the states...

Download transcript. This week, I was pleased to welcome back to the studio Jim Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant at B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group (Acta®) and Claire Hansen, an Associate with B&C and Regulatory Analyst with Acta, to discuss the ever-changing influence of foreign policy on the chemical industry. As we all know, there is a lot going on in the world and much of it may seem somewhat tangential to the chemical industry. On closer inspection,...

Download transcript. This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Richard E. Engler, Director of Chemistry for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta®), our consulting affiliate, and Ryan N. Schmit, Of Counsel with B&C and Senior Regulatory Consultant with Acta, about the recent release of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment’s Discussion Draft of suggested amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The document has inspired spirited debate over the...

Download transcript. This week, I was pleased to welcome back to the studio Jim Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant at B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group (Acta®), to discuss his take on what to expect from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Congress on pesticide matters in the new year. As an astute student of politics and a keen observer of EPA chemical policies and personalities, hearing Jim’s observations is always informative. As many of you...

Download transcript. This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Rachel Harris, Technical Project Manager, Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI), Argonne National Laboratory, and our own Dr. Richard Engler, to discuss Argonne National Laboratory’s Chain Reaction Innovations entrepreneurship. We here at B&C truly appreciate the value and importance of chemical innovation, so when we learned of Argonne National Laboratory’s Chain Reaction Innovations program (CRI program), we wanted to...

Download transcript. This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Adelina Voutchkova, Director of Sustainable Development at the American Chemical Society (ACS), and my colleague Dr. Richard Engler, B&C’s Director of Chemistry, to discuss ACS’ much-coveted Green Chemistry Challenge Awards and ACS’ Green Chemistry Institute (GCI). Institutionally, GCI has grown as the imperative for greener and more sustainable chemicals has increased. So also have the stature of the Green...

Download transcript. This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Ryan N. Schmit, Of Counsel with B&C, and Senior Regulatory Consultant with The Acta Group (Acta®). Ryan joined us a few weeks ago and we wanted to show off our newest Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) superstar. We discuss Ryan’s illustrious career with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the past 15 years. As you will hear, Ryan has been at the forefront of TSCA policy development, Frank R. Lautenberg...