On March 27, 2019, the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight and Subcommittee on Environment held a hearing on “EPA’s IRIS Program: Reviewing its Progress and Roadblocks Ahead.” The hearing focused on issues with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program, as described in two recent reports issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Chemical Assessments: Status of...
The 21st Century has witnessed intense renewed interest in commercialising new biobased chemicals, defined generally to include chemicals that are derived fromplants and otherrenewablematerials. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is the U.S. law thatregulatesindustrial chemicalsubstances,including biobased chemicals, used in applications other than food, drugs, cosmetics, and pesticides, or uses that are regulated by other federal authorities. TSCA wassignificantly amended in 2016, and...
March 29, 2019
EPA Releases Draft Guidance For Pesticide Registrants On Plant Regulator Label Claims, Including Bio
By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 25, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted Draft Guidance for Plant Regulator Label Claim, Including Plant Biostimulants in Docket # EPA-HQ-OPP-2018-0258. EPA issued the notice of availability in the Federal Register on March 27, 2019. 84 Fed. Reg. 11538. This is an important document addressing tricky jurisdictional issues that have plagued EPA for years. Comments on the draft guidance are due by May 28, 2019. For a...
March 29, 2019
FDA’s Premarket Voluntary Plant Biotechnology Consultation Program Provides Opportunity For Develope
By Lynn L. Bergeson In a recent statement prepared by U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Susan Mayne, Ph.D., Director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and by Dennis Keefe, Ph.D, Director of FDA’s Office of Food Additive Safety, FDA highlights its commitment to assisting plant biotechnology developers to foster innovation and ensure that consumers can confidently trust FDA’s high safety standards. Plant biotechnology consists of methods...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 27, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) reminded funding opportunity applicants of the upcoming March 29, 2019, deadline for concept paper submissions on commercial truck, off-road vehicle, and gaseous fuels research. On March 1, 2019, EERE BETO announced a funding opportunity of up to $51.5 million for new and innovative research technologies for trucks,...
By Lynn L. Bergeson In March 2019, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), a conservation organization working across the U.S., published a report called New Research Findings Link Biofuel Mandate to Environmental Harm. According to the report, the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and its implementation are leading to environmental disaster which involves the destruction of the monarch butterfly habitat, climate change acceleration, and drainage of western aquifers, amongst other issues....
March 29, 2019
Weekly Roundup of Other Biobased News
Plastics News, “Sealed Air, Kuraray Join Forces for Plant-based Packaging” CNBC, “Starbucks Announces Trials for Recyclable and Compostable Cups” Baltimore Sun, “Maryland Senate Passes Renewable Energy Bill; House Outcome Uncertain” ScienceDaily, “First Evidence Bacterial-induced Apoptosis in Algae” Coatings World, “Clariant Launches First Bio-based Pigment Red 254” North Carolina Biotechnology Center, “bluebird bio Dedicates New...
March 28, 2019
ISO Publishes Standard on Matrix of Properties and Measurement Techniques for Graphene and Related 2D Materials
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standard ISO/TR 19733:2019, “Nanotechnologies — Matrix of properties and measurement techniques for graphene and related two-dimensional (2D) materials.” ISO states that since graphene was discovered in 2004, it has become one of the most attractive materials in application research and device industry due to its supreme material properties such as mechanical strength, stiffness and elasticity, high electrical and...
On March 27, 2019, the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight and Subcommittee on Environment held a hearing on “EPA’s IRIS Program: Reviewing its Progress and Roadblocks Ahead.” The hearing focused on issues with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program, as described in two recent reports issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Chemical Assessments:...
This week, I sat down with my colleague Jim Aidala, a Senior Government Affairs Consultant here at the firm, to discuss 2019 and the state of industrial and agricultural chemical regulation: what is to come, what to expect, and how we can prepare for it. We begin, of course, by looking at 2018, chiefly, the appointment and confirmation of Alexandra Dunn, the new EPA Assistant Administrator in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention,...