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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will publish a Federal Register notice on October 29, 2019, announcing the availability of and soliciting public comment on the draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation of methylene chloride (MC).  EPA states that it is also submitting the same document to the TSCA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) for peer review and that SACC will hold an in-person public meeting to consider and review the draft...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will publish a Federal Register notice on October 29, 2019, announcing the availability of and soliciting public comment on the draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation of methylene chloride (MC). EPA states that it is also submitting the same document to the TSCA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) for peer review and that SACC will convene an in-person public meeting to consider and review the draft risk...

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standard ISO/TS 21236-1:2019, “Nanotechnologies — Clay nanomaterials — Part 1:  Specification of characteristics and measurement methods for layered clay nanomaterials.”  The standard specifies characteristics to be measured of layered clay nanomaterials in powder form and chemically modified ones and describes their relevant measurement methods.  According to the standard abstract, there are...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 17, 2019, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology unanimously approved the Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act (H.R. 2051), a companion bill to legislation introduced in the Senate by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Susan Collins (R-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). Representative Dan Lipinski (D-IL) introduced the House bill on April 3, 2019. It is co-sponsored by Representative John Moolenaar (R-MI). The bill is...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 22, 2019, Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee Chair, and Paul Tonko (D-NY), Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee (ECCS), announced that a legislative hearing will be held on October 29, 2019, at 10:30 a.m. (EDT) on Capitol Hill. Titled “Protecting the RFS: The Trump Administration’s Abuse of Secret Waivers,” the hearing will focus on the EPA’s mismanagement of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On October 16, 2019, the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, announced that its researchers have partnered with colleagues from France, Germany, and Spain to start working on a new technique to tackle plastic waste. According to the university’s article, this novel technique may revolutionize the recycling industry. The plan is to create engineered microbial communities that will digest two types of plastic polymers — polyethylene...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 23, 2019, that it settled with Miles Chemical Company Inc. for failing to report timely chemical substances it imported.  Under the settlement, the company will pay a $45,000 penalty.  According to EPA, between 2012 and 2015, Miles Chemical Company failed to submit timely forms to EPA documenting the import of large quantities of two chemicals.  EPA notes that under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), chemical...

On October 17, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Spanish Translation Guide for Pesticide Labeling resource for use by all, including pesticide registrants that choose to display parts of their pesticide product label in Spanish.  The purpose of the guide is to be a resource for the translation of the health and safety sections on pesticide labeling from English to Spanish.  EPA states that the “guide is written in a universal form of Spanish...

In 2018, the global M&A market achieved a transaction volume of $4.1 trillion, the third highest year ever for M&A volumes. Divestitures, spin-offs and split-offs are essential to defining corporate identity, a key shareholder imperative. This brisk pace is expected to continue. Whatever the motivation, M&A activity demands razor-sharp due diligence. The premise of this article is that due diligence often underestimates or, worse, ignores the impact implementation of revisions to the...