On February 25, 2021, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will hold a webinar on "Assessing the dispersion stability and dissolution (rate) of nanomaterials in the environment" to discuss the scope, content, and use of Test Guideline No. 318: Dispersion Stability of Nanomaterials in Simulated Environmental Media and its accompanying guidance document.
February 2, 2021
EPA Announces the Issuance of a Revised Advisory on Disinfectants Making False and Misleading Claims against COVID-19
In January 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) announced that it issued a revised compliance advisory (Advisory) on products claiming to kill SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. EPA first issued this guidance on June 1, 2020, and it is discussed in our blog here. The Advisory has been revised significantly, reflecting new developments and experience since the Advisory was...
Biden-Harris Administration Freezes Rules Pending Review: On January 20, 2021, Ronald A. Klain, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, issued a memorandum regarding “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review.” 86 Fed. Reg. 7424. For rules that have not yet taken effect, the memorandum directs the heads of executive departments and agencies to consider postponing the rules’ effective dates for 60 days from the date of the memorandum for the purpose of reviewing any questions...
On February 1, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana granted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) January 31, 2021, unopposed motion to vacate and remand its January 6, 2021, final rule on “Strengthening Transparency in Pivotal Science Underlying Significant Regulatory Actions and Influential Scientific Information” (86 Fed. Reg. 469). EDF v. EPA, No. 4:21-cv-03-BMM. On January 11, 2021, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Montana Environmental...
February 1, 2021
EPA Issues TSCA Section 4 Test Orders for Nine Chemicals Undergoing Risk Evaluation
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 15, 2021, that it has issued test orders under Section 4 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to obtain additional data on nine of the next 20 chemicals undergoing risk evaluation. EPA states that after reviewing the available data on these chemicals, it needs additional data and is using its TSCA test order authority to require companies to develop and submit information on environmental hazard and inhalation...
January 29, 2021
EPA Announces Approval of Airborne Antiviral Treatment Product for Use against COVID-19
On January 15, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the issuance of a Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 18 emergency exemption to the states of Georgia and Tennessee permitting the use of an air treatment product, Grignard Pure, in health care facilities, intrastate transportation, food processing facilities, and indoor spaces within buildings -- including government facilities -- where people are conducting activity...
January 29, 2021
Registration Opens for First Committee Meeting on Guidance on PFAS Testing and Health Outcomes
On February 4, 2021, the ad hoc committee appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies) to consider current evidence regarding human health effects of the most widely studied per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) will hold its first meeting. The National Academies will provide the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the National...
January 28, 2021
Lynn L. Bergeson and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D. Quoted in Chemical Watch Article “TSCA implementation may be ‘significantly different’ under Biden”
On January 28, 2021, Chemical Watch featured comments by Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, B&C regarding changes to the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) under Biden. "TSCA implementation and interpretation could be significantly different" under the new administration, Lynn Bergeson, managing partner at Bergeson & Campbell, told Chemical Watch. [...] Ms. Bergeson agreed...
The March 1, 2021, deadline for all establishments, foreign and domestic, that produce pesticides, devices, or active ingredients to file their annual production for the 2020 reporting year is fast approaching. Pursuant to Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 7(c)(1) (7 U.S.C. § 136e(c)(1)), “Any producer operating an establishment registered [under Section 7] shall inform the Administrator within 30 days after it is registered of the types and amounts of...
On January 22, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the reasons for its denial of a petition requesting it to require health and environmental effects testing on 54 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). 86 Fed. Reg. 6602. The petition sought issuance of a rule or order under TSCA Section 4 compelling The Chemours Company (Chemours) to fund and carry out this testing under the direction of a panel of independent scientists. EPA states that it...