March 17, 2025

Council of the EU Agrees on Negotiating Mandate on Plants Obtained by New Genomic Techniques

The Council of the European Union (EU) announced on March 14, 2025, that the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) endorsed the Council’s negotiating mandate on the regulation on plants obtained by new genomic techniques (NGT) and their food and feed. The regulation proposed by the European Commission (EC) would create two ways for NGT plants to be placed on the market: The proposed regulation...
March 14, 2025

EPA Will Review 2024 Rule Amending the TSCA Risk Evaluation Framework Rule

On March 10, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its intent to reconsider the May 3, 2024, rule amending the procedural framework rule for conducting risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (2024 Risk Evaluation Framework Rule). According to EPA, it will initiate a rulemaking “that will ensure the agency can efficiently and effectively protect human health and the environment and follow the law.” As reported in our February 7, 2025,...
March 14, 2025

Will Bipartisan Legislation Be Possible After Reconciliation?

After President Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, it is unclear if there will be much desire or willingness on behalf of the Democrats and Republicans to collaborate on legislation during the 119th Congress. President Trump and congressional Republicans are moving toward “one big, beautiful” reconciliation bill (that is possible to enact without Democratic support) that will reflect most of President Trump’s priorities. The question is: what happens after...
March 14, 2025

Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA, OSHA Sign Ambiguous Memorandum of Understanding,” Chemical Processing, March 12, 2025.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Jan. 13, 2025, that it signed a much-anticipated memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), formalizing coordination on EPA’s work to assess and manage existing chemicals under Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). A closer read of the MOU leaves us wanting more than what is there....
March 13, 2025

Chemical Product Law and Supply Chain Stewardship: A Guide to New TSCA — A Conversation with Richard E. Engler, Ph.D. and Kelly N. Garson

This week, I discuss with my colleagues, Dr. Richard E. Engler, Director of Chemistry for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta®), our consulting affiliate, and Kelly N. Garson, Senior Associate for B&C and Acta, our recently released book, titled Chemical Product Law and Supply Chain Stewardship: A Guide to New TSCA, published by the American Bar Association. As listeners know, as a law firm and consulting firm, we do a lot of work under the Toxic Substances Control Act...
March 12, 2025

EPA Reschedules SACC Meetings to Consider 1,3-Butadiene Draft Risk Evaluation, Will Issue Supplement

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 11, 2025, the rescheduled meeting dates of the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) that had been previously scheduled for February 2025 to consider and review the draft risk evaluation for 1,3-butadiene. 90 Fed. Reg. 11737. The rescheduled preparatory meeting for the SACC to consider the scope and clarity of the revised draft charge questions for the peer review will now be held on March 25,...
March 11, 2025

EPA Extends Comment Period on Draft TSCA Risk Evaluation for DCHP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 7, 2025, that it is extending the comment period on the draft risk evaluation for dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA released the risk evaluation for DCHP on January 7, 2025, with a comment period that closed March 10, 2025. EPA states that it will soon publish a Federal Register notice extending the public comment period for an additional 60 days....
March 11, 2025

IBA Agriculture and Food Section and Healthcare and Life Sciences Law Committee Virtual Joint Networking Session, March 20, 2025, 15:00-16:00 (GMT), via webinar

The International Bar Association (IBA) Agriculture and Food Section (AFS) and Healthcare and Life Sciences Law Committee are pleased to invite other lawyers interested in agriculture, food, healthcare, and life sciences to their Virtual Joint Networking Session. There will be three brief 2-minute insights on the topics of cultivated meat (with Jan Holthuis), antimicrobial resistance (with Sara Moyo) and advertising regulations for medicinal products vs advertising regulations for food (with...
March 11, 2025

EU Advocate General Recommends Overturning Decision Annulling Harmonized Classification and Labeling of Titanium Dioxide

On February 6, 2025, the European Union (EU) Advocate General (EU AG) recommended that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) overturn the 2022 decision of the General Court annulling the 2019 harmonized classification and labeling of titanium dioxide as a carcinogenic substance by inhalation in certain powder forms. As reported in our December 6, 2022, memorandum, the court annulled the European Commission’s (EC) decision to classify titanium dioxide as a suspected human carcinogen. The French...
March 10, 2025

EPA Extends Comment Period on Draft Scope Document for Vinyl Chloride TSCA Risk Evaluation

On March 5, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extended the comment period on the draft scope of the risk evaluation to be conducted under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for vinyl chloride. 90 Fed. Reg. 11315. As reported in our January 28, 2025, memorandum, under TSCA, the scope documents must include the conditions of use (COU), hazards, exposures, and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations (PESS) that EPA expects to consider in...