September 20, 2021

EPA Announces Sunset of Temporary Disinfectant Supply Chain Flexibilities

On September 15, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is terminating the Temporary Amendment to Pesticide Registration (PR) Notice 98-10, effective September 15, 2022. EPA states that it is providing 12 months’ notice to registrants before the termination takes effect to give registrants time to adjust their contractual commitments. Registrants must ensure that by September 15, 2022, their product is produced using a source of active...
September 17, 2021

Senate Committee Holds Hearing on EPA Nominees for Assistant Administrator for Mission Support and Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

On September 15, 2021, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing on several U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nominees, including Amanda Howe, nominated for Assistant Administrator for Mission Support, and David Uhlmann, nominated for Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Amanda Howe has a long history of public service, including such roles as the Chief Operating Officer for the now-Vice President, Kamala Harris, for...
September 17, 2021

EPA Publishes Final Rule Extending PIP (3:1) Compliance Dates

On September 17, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule amending the regulations applicable to phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)) promulgated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 86 Fed. Reg. 51823. Specifically, EPA is extending the compliance date applicable to the processing and distribution in commerce of certain PIP (3:1)-containing articles, and the PIP (3:1) used to make those articles, from March 8, 2021, to March 8, 2022....
September 16, 2021

Comments Due October 15, 2021, on Chemicals Being Considered for Listing under New York’s Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Products Regulations

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) held a virtual public meeting on September 15, 2021, on its forthcoming regulations to implement the Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Products Law. New York’s Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) Article 37 Title 9 establishes an ingredient disclosure program and prohibits certain chemicals in children’s products. ECL Article 37 instructs NYS DEC to promulgate lists of chemicals of concern and high priority chemicals that...
September 16, 2021

EPA and PBTs: A New Normal? — A Conversation with Richard E. Engler, Ph.D.

Download Transcript This week I sat down with Dr. Richard E. Engler, B&C’s and The Acta Group’s (our consulting affiliate) Director of Chemistry, to discuss the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) continuing struggle to regulate certain persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals, especially those found in finished products, what EPA refers to as “articles.” The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has always applied to the products, or articles, that...
September 16, 2021

DOE Announces Funding Focused On Reducing Aviation And Shipping Sector Emissions

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. As part of a White House roundtable to launch the Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Grand Challenge to decarbonize the aviation sector by 2050, on September 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the availability of $64.7 million in funding for projects focused on the production of cost-effective and low-carbon biofuels. DOE aims to advance technologies to replace petroleum fuels used in heavy-duty forms of...
September 15, 2021

Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Goes Back To The Drawing Board On Toxic Substances,” Chemical Processing, September 15, 2021.

The implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) provisions relating to regulating persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals has been anything but smooth. On September 3, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it intends to initiate new PBT rulemaking and anticipates proposing new rules for five PBT chemicals subject to final risk management rules under TSCA Section 6(h). Additionally, and happily, the agency extended the compliance dates for the...
September 14, 2021

Lynn L. Bergeson Quoted in Chemical Watch Article “EPA’s timeline to rework TSCA PBT rules ‘impossible to justify’, NGOs say”

On September 14, 2021, Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), was quoted by Chemical Watch regarding criticism of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to grant industry additional time to comply with a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) prohibition on phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) – or PIP (3:1) – in articles.  Some in industry, however, argue the approach represents the agency’s best effort in...
September 14, 2021

Chemical Watch Features Comments by Lynn L. Bergeson and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Regarding Compliance Challenges of EPA’s PIP Rule

On September 14, 2021, Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, B&C, were quoted by Chemical Watch in the article “US EPA ‘turns up the heat’ on industry to demonstrate PIP rule challenges.” The EPA, however, has made clear that it will not give [companies] further time lightly.  Many commenters "did not provide sufficiently specific information about their operations to...
September 14, 2021

IRSST Publishes Study on Characterization of Unintentionally Released Nanometric Particles in Various Workplaces

The Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) announced on August 9, 2021, publication of a study entitled Characterization of Unintentionally Released Nanometric Particles in Various Workplaces. The study characterizes unintentionally released nanoparticles (URNP) found in six workplaces — an underground mine, a truck repair shop, an underground transportation network, a foundry, a machine shop, and a wax casting shop — on the basis of...