A trio of recent internal U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) memoranda are providing insight into how EPA intends to implement President Trump’s review and potential pogrom of EPA regulations. Virtually no program or regulation appears to be secure from the chopping block. Many stakeholders in industry and other sectors may be alarmed to see programs that are of benefit to them assigned a slot in the guillotine. Supporters of these programs, thus, would be wise to...
April 7, 2017
Petitioners File Motion for Further Mandamus Relief in Response to EPA’s Order Denying Petition to Ban Chlorpyrifos
On April 5, 2017, Petitioners Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) (Petitioners) filed a Motion for Further Mandamus Relief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals proceedings regarding the chlorpyrifos tolerances. In the motion, Petitioners respond to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) order signed on March 29, 2017, which denied the petition to revoke tolerances. Petitioners state that EPA’s response to the...
April 7, 2017
DOE Publishes Report On Alternative Aviation Fuels
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On March 28, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced the publication of the report on the current state of alternative aviation fuels that was developed using findings from peer-reviewed studies, scientific working groups, and BETO stakeholder input from the Alternative Aviation Fuel Workshop in September 2016. The four key topic areas include: ? Economic and technical competitiveness;...
By Kathleen M. Roberts On March 29, 2017, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the commencement of the preliminary phase of a biodiesel antidumping and countervailing duty investigation into Argentina and Indonesia. ITC must make a preliminary determination within 45 days regarding whether there is a reasonable indication that the U.S. biodiesel industry is materially injured or threatened with material injury by imports of...
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On March 23, 2017, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Resources Board (ARB) announced the release of new carbon intensity pathways for fuels certified under the low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) using the CA-GREET 2.0 model. Of the 18 pathways approved in March, eight are first generation biodiesel carbon intensity pathways and four are second generation renewable diesel carbon intensity pathways. A pathway for biodiesel produced from...
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On March 24, 2017, the California Energy Commission (CEC) published a notice on the proposed recipients of up to $23 million in Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) funding for applied research and development (AR&D) and technology demonstration and development (TD&D) activities focused on advancing bioenergy electricity generation. The funding opportunity is focused on three main bioenergy applications, including: ? Efficient,...
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On March 31, 2017, AkzoNobel, a member of BRAG, announced the launch of an online tool that uses e-certification to monitor the biobased content of products. Companies that sign up to use the online platform will be able to exchange biobased material certificates for everything from base ingredients to finished products. The online tool eliminates the need for separate, external biobased certifications at various points along the supply chain by allowing...
April 7, 2017
Weekly Roundup of Other Biobased News
? International Renewable Energy Agency, “Eliminating Energy-Related Carbon Emissions Possible, New IRENA Study Finds” ? Biofuels Association of Australia, “BAA Rejects Productivity Commission Claims” ? South China Morning Post, “Woks Away: China’s Plan to Make Jet Fuel from Restaurant Leftovers” ? Cornell Chronicle, “Microalgae Could Play Key Role in Relieving Climate Warming”
The Nanodatabase, developed by the Technical University of Denmark Department of Environmental Engineering (DTU Environment), the Danish Ecological Council, and the Danish Consumer Council, announced on April 4, 2017, that it added product number 3,000. According to The Nanodatabase, most products fall into the health and fitness category (1,845) while only about one-sixth of the products fall into the home and garden category (555). Of the 1,845 products in the health and...
The Acta Group (Acta®), a global scientific and business consulting firm offering a full range of support services for the process of obtaining approvals to market industrial chemicals, biocides, and chemical products, with offices in Washington, D.C., Beijing, China, and Manchester, UK, has been named winner of the Chemicals Northwest 2017 “Supply Chains Award.” Chemicals Northwest Awards are presented in ten categories, all of which recognize excellence in the chemical and chemical...