By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On July 25, 2019, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) hosted a webinar titled “New TSCA at 3: Key Implementation Issues” led by B&C’s Managing Partner, Lynn L. Bergeson. Webinar speakers included the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Assistant Administrator, Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, and B&C’s Director of Chemistry and former EPA staff, Richard E. Engler, Ph.D. Assistant Administrator...
August 2, 2019
DOE Announces Winners Of AIM Onshore Competition
By Lynn L. Bergeson On July 29, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announced the winners of the American Inventions Made Onshore (AIM Onshore) Prize Competition. Opened in 2018, this competition was an initiative aimed at closing the gap between American innovators who develop new energy technologies and manufacturers who produce them. Selected among four finalists, two winners were awarded for their innovative proposals. In first...
August 2, 2019
EPA Holds Public Hearing On RVO Proposed Rule Under RFS
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On July 31, 2019, EPA held a public hearing in Ypsilanti, MI, to obtain stakeholders’ input on its proposed rule to set Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) 2020 renewable volume obligations (RVO) and 2021 biomass-based diesel volume. Among the various stakeholders providing oral statements to EPA were representatives from Growth Energy, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), Hero BX, and the National...
August 2, 2019
Weekly Roundup of Other Biobased News
The Intelligencer, “Buckingham Center Offers Biotech Startups $50 Million” Science Codex, “Solar Energy Becomes Biofuel without Solar Cells” ScienceDirect, “Development of a Biorefinery Scheme to Produce Biofuels from Waste Cooking Oil” Sierra Sun Times, “U.S. Senators Renew Bipartisan Effort to Repeal Ethanol Mandate” Feedstuffs, “EPA Issued RFS Exemptions against DOE Advice” The Philadelphia Inquirer, “Trump Administration...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice on May 15, 2019, announcing the availability of a signed action identifying chemical substances for inactive designation according to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Requirements rule. 84 Fed. Reg. 21772. The signed action, dated May 6, 2019, initiated a 90-day period after which substances identified as inactive will be designated as inactive. Inactive...
Product Stewardship 2019, September 10-12, 2019, Columbus, OH: Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), has served as president-elect of the Product Stewardship Society (PSS) since 2017 and will begin her term as the PSS President during the Product Stewardship Conference. Scott J. Burya, Ph.D., Regulatory Chemist, B&C, will present on regulatory barriers to innovation and how to address them. WEBINAR -- Implementation of RMP: A Discussion...
July 31, 2019
EPA Posts NOA Form B Materials before TSCA Inventory Inactive Designations Take Effect August 5
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice on May 15, 2019, announcing the availability of a signed action identifying chemical substances for inactive designation according to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Requirements rule. 84 Fed. Reg. 21772. The signed action, dated May 6, 2019, initiated a 90-day period after which substances identified as inactive will be designated as inactive. Inactive...
On July 29, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register its proposed rule intended to reduce exposures to certain chemicals that are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT). 84 Fed. Reg. 36728. EPA identified five chemicals pursuant to Section 6(h) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE); phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)), also known as tris(4-isopropylphenyl) phosphate;...
On July 3, 2019, the European Commission (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published its final opinion on the solubility of synthetic amorphous silica (SAS). The EC asked whether SCCS considers that SAS materials are soluble (100 milligram per liter (mg/L) or higher) or degradable/non-persistent in biological systems in light of the nanomaterial definition of the Cosmetics Regulation. Having considered the data provided in this dossier and that available in published...
July 30, 2019
Food Security and World Hunger with Katherine Meighan, International Fund for Agricultural Development
Last October, at the Annual Meeting of the International Bar Association in Rome, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Katherine Meighan, the General Counsel of IFAD, the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Katherine gave an eye-opening presentation at the IBA conference on IFAD’s efforts to address the issue of food security and world hunger, and I knew I had to have her on the podcast to share her message and to dig deeper into her work as General...