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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 history of the CLP legislation: how...

Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), sat down with Dr. Richard Engler, Director of Chemistry at B&C, to bring 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...

On March 18, 2020, Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), was quoted by Bloomberg Environment regarding a lawsuit brought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) saying the agency failed to provide information about chemical use and new chemicals to which the public is legally entitled. “I do not question the plaintiffs’ goals—EPA has a clear obligation and should re-commit to meeting those obligations—but...

On March 16, 2020, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced publication of an article in the May 2020 issue of Environmental Research entitled “Nanoparticle exposure and hazard in the ceramic industry:  an overview of potential sources, toxicity and health effects.”  In the article, the researchers provide an overview of the current knowledge on occupational exposure to nanoparticles in the ceramic industry and their...

On March 13, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an expanded list of EPA-registered disinfectant products that have qualified for use against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.  The list contains nearly 200 additional products, including 40 new products that went through EPA’s expedited review process.  While disinfectant products on this list have not been tested specifically against SARS-CoV-2, EPA expects them to be effective against...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 5, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is seeking grant applications through the Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program from states, federally recognized tribes, universities, local governments, and other groups to support innovative solutions for source reduction or pollution prevention (P2) through research, education, training, or certain other methods. EPA notes that as it highlights chemical safety during the month of March,...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 10, 2020, EPA announced that it issued a final rule to add two strains of microorganisms to the list of microorganisms eligible for an exemption from certain reporting requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA states that manufacturers of new intergeneric Trichoderma reesei (strain QM6a) and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (subspecies amyloliquefaciens) may now be eligible to undergo a streamlined review process under TSCA’s new chemicals...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 3, 2020, EPA announced that a supplemental notice of the proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) titled “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” will be published in the Federal Register in the near future. While the notice would only modify EPA internal procedures, industry stakeholders are asked to comment on the proposed rule during a 30-day period after the date of publication in the Federal Register. The supplemental notice proposes the following...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 11, 2020, EPA announced the availability of the latest TSCA Inventory. EPA states that this biannual update to the public TSCA Inventory is part of its regular posting of non-confidential TSCA Inventory data. According to EPA, this update adds 81 new chemicals, and the Inventory as a whole now contains 86,405 chemicals, of which 41,484 are active in U.S. commerce. Other updates to the TSCA Inventory include: Updates to commercial activity data, or active/inactive...