All Things Chemical® Podcast

As we are now into June, Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) aficionados will be quick to note that “new TSCA” is now almost four years old.  Passage in June 2016 of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act occasioned EPA’s implementation of a law that has transformed industrial chemical regulation in the United States.  This week, to mark Lautenberg’s fourth birthday, I sat down with Dr. Richard E. Engler, B&C’s Director of...

Download transcript. This week, as employees around the country are returning to their offices and work stations, I was excited to visit with Larry Sloan, CEO of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), located here in the Washington, D.C., area. AIHA may not be a well-known organization to many of our listeners, but that could be about to change.  Founded in 1939, AIHA is a non-profit organization serving professionals dedicated to the identification, evaluation, control,...

The question posed by this podcast may sound easy, but it is anything but. This podcast explores the fascinating yet commercially vexing jurisdictional divide between and among biostimulants, biopesticides, and fertilizers as each of these agricultural chemical products is vital to the agricultural community.  According to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report, the plant biostimulant industry alone is expected to be at least a $2.2 billion global market, swelling to $5 billion in...

This week, I was thrilled to sit down with Richard Keigwin, Director of the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) here in Washington, D.C.  As OPP Director, Rick leads the EPA office that reviews and approves pesticide products used to combat the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.  Historically, OPP has consistently been one of the busiest offices in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention...

This week, I sat down with Eric Byer, President and CEO of the National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD). Eric, like many of us these days, is working hard and under extraordinary circumstances ensuring that his member companies are able to continue to distribute much needed chemical products, including sanitizers and other cleaning products, in response to the pandemic.  Our conversation focused on these uniquely “in the moment” issues and a broad range of federal,...

This week, I sat down with Lisa Campbell, my business partner of many years and one of the nation’s foremost legal experts on the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Given Lisa’s expertise, we engaged in a very timely discussion about the approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of products under FIFRA to combat COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.  EPA has been deluged with applications to approve new products and/or new...

This week, I sat down with my colleague Karin Baron, a senior regulatory consultant here at B&C. In this conversation, Karin talks about recent European Union enforcement initiatives that have to do with the CLP legislation: Classification, Labeling, and Packaging legislation. Karin begins by telling us about the current state of harmonization along the lines of the GHS model, and how this might be more an aspiration than a reality. Then we talk about the...

This week, I sat down with my colleague, Dr. Richard Engler, Director of Chemistry here at B&C and The Acta Group (Acta®). We brought everyone up to date on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) fee rule and how it applies to entities obligated to pay a portion of the $1,350,000 per chemical fee for preparing an EPA-initiated risk evaluation, the legal and regulatory significance of the supplemental...

Download transcript. This week, I sat down with my colleague, Sheryl Dolan, a Senior Regulatory Consultant here at Bergeson & Campbell and The Acta Group.  As Sheryl’s practice focuses primarily on pesticide matters, we addressed a few hot topics captivating our interest.  Sheryl briefed us on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs’ (OPP) forthcoming move from Crystal City, Virginia, to D.C. later this year, OPP’s recent deployment of its Emerging...

This week, I sat down with my colleague, Dr. Richard Engler, Bergeson & Campbell’s Director of Chemistry, to discuss what the fuss is over EPA’s January 27, 2020, issuance of a “preliminary list” of companies responsible for the $1,350,000 per-chemical fee EPA charges to conduct a risk evaluation of a high-priority chemical under TSCA Section 6.  The scope of the entities “on the hook” is far broader than expected, and companies with little understanding of...