All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On November 1, 2018, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) launched a podcast called All Things Chemical™ that will engage listeners in intelligent, insightful conversation about everything related to industrial, pesticidal, and specialty chemicals and the law and business issues surrounding chemicals.  B&C’s talented team of lawyers, scientists, and consultants will keep listeners abreast of the changing world of both domestic and international chemical regulation and...

On November 6, 2018, Bloomberg Environment quoted Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), regarding new chemical rules. Before 2016, the EPA took regulatory action on 10-15 percent of new chemicals, clearing the way for 85-90 percent of new compounds to proceed without restrictions, Richard Engler, Bergeson and Campbell PC’s director of chemistry, said. But since the amendments to the nation’s primary chemicals law passed in...

On October 26, 2018, the European Commission (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) published its final opinion on colloidal silver (nano).  According to the final opinion, the EC received 63 notifications of cosmetic products containing colloidal silver in nano form.  The final opinion states that, according to the applicants, the ingredient is used in nano uncoated form both in leave-on and rinse-off oral cosmetics products, including toothpastes and skin care products, with a...

On November 5, 2018, Bloomberg Environment quoted Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), in the article “More Sales, Broader Safeguards May Follow Chemical Rule Deluge.” The rules broaden sales opportunities for both the companies that designed these chemicals and ones that want to make or use them, Richard Engler, who was a chemist at the Environmental Protection Agency for 17 years, told Bloomberg Environment. […] The...

On October 30, 2018, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) held a webinar on its revised draft document entitled Current Intelligence Bulletin:  Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Silver Nanomaterials.  The meeting agenda and slide presentation are available in the docket, as well as a list of meeting attendees.  As reported in our September 19, 2018, blog item, the revised draft Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) provides an updated scientific...

On October 17, 2018, the Trump Administration published its Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Regulatory Agenda).  There are many interesting entries, some of which are flagged here. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed implementing Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) amendments to enhance public health and chemical safety as one of its top priorities.  According to EPA, the amendments to TSCA that were enacted in June 2016...

On October 31, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is extending the registration of dicamba for two years for “over-the-top” use (application to growing plants) to control weeds in fields for cotton and soybean plants genetically engineered to resist dicamba.  EPA states that the registration for these dicamba products will expire on December 20, 2020, unless EPA decides to further extend it.  EPA states that the label changes described below...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 30, 2018, Earthjustice and the Clean Air Task Force submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a petition “to amend its ‘aggregate compliance’ approach to the definition of biomass under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) … to prevent the conversion of native grasslands.”  The petition was filed on behalf of 11 organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club, and urges EPA’s...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 30, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the topics for 2019 funding opportunities.  Amongst the program offices that are participating in this solicitation, is the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, who will be hosting an informational webinar on November 6, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. (EST) as an opportunity to ask the DOE Program Managers any questions about DOE funding opportunities.  The 90-minute webinar requires registration...

By Lynn L. Bergeson In October 2018, DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) published a report called “Cell-Free Synthetic Biology and Biocatalysis:  Prototyping and Conversion Platforms.”  The report consists of a summary from discussions held on a listening day by BETO in Denver, Colorado, in 2017.  The public meeting was intended to discuss research and development opportunities related to cell-free synthetic biology and biocatalysis, and how these...