By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 18, 2019, (EPA) announced a public hearing to be held for the proposed rule: “Modifications to Fuel Registrations to Provide Flexibility for E15: Modifications to RFS RIN Market Regulations.” 84 Fed. Reg. 9734. The proposed rule would implement regulatory changes allowing E15 to take advantage of a Renewal Fuels Standard (RFS) program waiver. Currently, the 1-psi Raid Vapor Pressure (RVP) waiver only applies to ten percent ethanol (E10) during...
March 22, 2019
DOE Biomass R&D Committee To Hold Open Meetings
By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 18, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced an open meeting of the Biomass Research and Development (R&D) Technical Advisory Committee. 84 Fed. Reg. 9769. The meeting will take place in Arlington, Virginia, on March 27 – 28, 2019, and will include discussions on developing advice and guidance promoting R&D leading to the production of biobased fuels and products. The tentative agenda includes updates not only on DOE...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On March 19, 2019, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) announced the delay of the spring release for BRS’ updated permitting system in APHIS eFile. The release is now expected to occur in mid-summer 2019, with periodic updates provided by APHIS BRS as the anticipated release approaches. In its announcement, APHIS BRS highlighted its commitment to bringing a permitting system that takes...
By Lynn L. Bergeson In February 2019, the University of Utah published the article Algal lipid extraction using confined impinging jet mixers. The article outlines the University of Utah engineers’ latest discovery of a new method for rapid lipid harvesting which is essential to energy parity for microbial derived biofuels. This newly developed technique is not only faster but also more efficient, and uses confined impinging jet mixers (CIJM) to improve lipid extraction from...
March 22, 2019
Weekly Roundup of Other Biobased News
CNBC, “Trump Energy Secretary Rick Perry ‘Absolutely’ Would Talk with Ocasio-Cortez About Green New Deal” Reuters, “Malaysia Threatens WTO Challenge to EU’s Move to Drop Palm Biofuel” CompositesWorld, “Bio4self Bio-based Autocomposite Wins JEC Innovation Award” Feedstuffs, “EPA’s RFS Waivers Cut Corn Demand by 900m bu.” NCSU News, “Transcription Factor Network Gets to Heart of Wood Formation” NHK World-Japan,...
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published a March 19, 2019, Federal Register notice announcing that it will hold a public hearing on May 1, 2019, to receive views from all interested parties about the CPSC’s agenda and priorities for fiscal years (FY) 2020, which begins on October 1, 2019, and 2021, which begins on October 1, 2020. CPSC seeks comment on the following questions: CPSC’s 2018-2022 Strategic Plan notes that CPSC...
March 20, 2019
NNI Will Hold First 2019 NanoEHS Webinar on April 9
The National Nanotechnology Initiative’s (NNI) 2019 public webinar series on the environmental, health, and safety effects of nanomaterials (nanoEHS) will begin on April 9, 2019, at 12:00 p.m. (EDT) with a presentation by Dr. Robert MacCuspie (Natural Immunogenics Corp.) on “Characterization and Quantification of Engineered Nanomaterials: Drivers of NanoEHS Research.” Upcoming webinars will include “Environmental, Health, and Safety Resources for Handling, Transporting, and...
March 20, 2019
EPA Bans Consumer Sales of Methylene Chloride Paint Removers, Seeks Comment on Program for Commercial Uses
On March 15, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a signed final rule that prohibits the manufacture (including import), processing, and distribution of methylene chloride for consumer paint and coating removal. EPA states that it “determined that the use of methylene chloride in consumer paint and coating removal presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health due to acute human lethality.” Under the final rule, paint removal products containing...
March 20, 2019
EPA Announces Section 5 Notices to Be Posted without EPA Review – Filers Should Be Extra Diligent about Proper CBI Redactions
On May 20, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that on May 30, 2019, it will begin publishing Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 5 notices including premanufacture notices (PMN), microbial commercial activity notices (MCAN), and significant new use notices (SNUN), their attachments, including any health and safety studies, any modifications thereto, and all other associated information in ChemView — in the form they are received by EPA, without...
On March 20, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was releasing a list of 40 chemicals to begin the prioritization process required by the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). New TSCA requires EPA to designate 20 chemicals as “high-priority” for subsequent risk evaluation and 20 chemicals as “low-priority,” meaning that risk evaluation is not warranted at this time. The 20 high priority candidate chemicals include: EPA is also...