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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) New Chemicals Program will hold a webinar on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. (EST) to learn about requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the premanufacture notice (PMN) process for biofuels. As reported in our January 24, 2022, blog item, in January 2022, EPA announced an effort to streamline the review of new biobased or waste-derived chemicals that could displace current,...

Register Now For “UK REACH, What’s Happened And What’s Next?,” On March 23, 2022: Companies worldwide must be aware of the significant implications for chemical regulatory compliance under the United Kingdom (UK) REACH regulation as the UK has completed its first year of complete separation from the European Union (EU). Companies should act quickly to understand their rights and obligations under UK REACH to maintain continuity of their supply chains and market access. “UK REACH,...

On January 20, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) concerning the procedures for submitting information subject to business confidentiality claims under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to an item in the fall 2021 Unified Agenda, EPA is considering proposing new and amended rules concerning the assertion and maintenance of claims of business confidentiality (i.e., confidential...

On January 21, 2022, the European Commission’s (EC) Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) published a second statement on emerging health and environmental issues. SCHEER members have identified nine emerging issues in the non-food area as having a potential impact on human health and/or the environment in the future and have given them overall prioritization scores (*, 1, 2, or 3, where * is uncertain and three is high). The emerging issues...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule on January 26, 2022, to amend procedures for determining when a food contact substance notification (FCN) is no longer effective. 87 Fed. Reg. 3949. FDA states that the proposed rule would allow industry and FDA more flexibility in responding to new information on the safety and use of food contact substances. The amendments aim to create administration mechanisms to improve the program’s overall efficiency. Comments are...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published the latest edition of the Developments in Delegations on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials — Tour de Table. The Tour de Table compiles information provided by delegations on developments concerning the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. It includes the following information on developments in the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed review of two low volume...

2022 will bring competing priorities for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for which companies should now prepare. Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to present “What to Expect in Chemicals in 2022,” a webinar offering our best informed judgment as to the trends and key developments B&C’s legal, scientific, and regulatory professionals expect to see in 2022. These include consequential policy shifts reflecting the Biden Administration’s “all of...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 24, 2022, the automatic addition of four per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) list. The Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) provides the framework for adding additional PFAS to the TRI each year. For TRI Reporting Year 2022 (reporting forms due by July 1, 2023), reporting is required for four additional PFAS. NDAA Section 7321(c) identifies certain regulatory...

The Biden Administration’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is laser focused on achieving several “whole-of-government” priorities: addressing climate change, identifying and giving environmental justice greater consideration in decision-making, and following the science wherever it may lead. Knowing and respecting leadership in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) tasked with achieving these laudable yet daunting objectives, there is no question the...

By Lynn L. Bergeson  On January 10, 2022, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced that a team of its researchers has developed a promising approach to control methane emissions and remove methane from the air using zeolite clay. Zeolite clay is inexpensive and abundant. The MIT team found that, when treated with copper, the material is very effective at absorbing methane from the air even at low concentrations. According to researcher and Associate Professor of Civil...