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The 4th Annual Safer Consumer Products Summit was held May 6-8, 2014, in Santa Clara, California, and with the first draft Priority Products (PP) having been announced by California's Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) in March 2014, the regulators, manufacturers, brand owners, and retailers gathered for the Summit were able to engage in substantive and practical discussion and learn from case studies on California's implementation of the Safer Consumer Products Regulations...

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) announced that Director Debbie Raphael will be leaving her position on May 30, 2014, to lead San Francisco's Department of the Environment. Raphael's replacement has not yet been announced. In Raphael's place, Dr. Meredith Williams, DTSC Deputy Director, gave the keynote address at the 4th Safer Consumer Products Summit in Santa Clara, California, sponsored by B&C. Dr. Williams discussed DTSC's decision-making...

On March 20, 2014, Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), which represent the ethanol industry, and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), along with the American Trucking Association and the Consumer Energy Alliance, filed petitions for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court to make a final determination on the constitutionality of the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The groups are challenging the January 2014 decision of the U.S. Court...

On August 8, 2013, the Fifth District Court of Appeals denied a petition from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for a rehearing of the case in which the court found on July 15, 2013, that CARB had improperly approved California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in violation of administrative procedures (more information is available online). The July 15 decision stands and while CARB may continue to implement the LCFS, it must hold a new...

The B&C Consortia Management, L.L.C. (BCMM) is pleased to announce that the UCLA Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology will be hosting a workshop that will be sponsored by The California Nanotechnology Industry Network (CalNIN) on Challenges and Opportunities for Businesses Engaged in Nanotechnology on September 25, 2012. Planned topics include: For more information, log onto www.calnin.org or contact Jake Vandevort. Registration opens on May 15,...

Last week, the University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment announced the publication of its “Recommendations for Addressing Potential Health Risks from Nanomaterials in California,” which provides recommendations for addressing potential health risks from nanomaterials to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and to the state of California.  OEHHA contracted with UCSF to prepare the report, which provides...

On December 21, 2010, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (CDTSC) issued a data call-in (DCI) for information regarding analytical test methods, and other relevant information, from manufacturers of nano silver, nano zero valent iron, nano titanium dioxide, nano zinc oxide, nano cerium oxide, and quantum dots. According to CDTSC, Health and Safety Code Section 57018(a)(4) defines a “manufacturer” as a “person who produces a chemical in this state or imports a chemical...

On December 15, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it fined Kinetic Solutions Inc., doing business as Rabbit Air, $82,400 for allegedly selling unregistered and misbranded pesticides and making unproven claims about their effectiveness. According to EPA, Kinetic Solutions Inc. made illegal public health claims for its air purifier branded “Nano Silver Pre Filter” and the filter’s ability to control over 650 types of bacteria, a violation of the Federal...

On November 16, 2010, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (CDTSC) released revisions to its safer consumer product alternatives regulations for a 15-day comment period. Of particular note, CDTSC has removed all references to nanotechnology and nanomaterials in the proposed regulations, which previously defined nanomaterials and included “physical, chemical, or quantum properties specific to nanomaterials” on the list of prioritization factors that CDTSC would consider in...

On September 22, 2010, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (CDTSC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a public workshop on state and federal nanomaterial activities. During the workshop, CDTSC and EPA discussed the results of California’s data call-in (DCI) for carbon nanotubes (CNT), its plans for future DCIs, and EPA’s efforts related to CNTs. The candidate chemicals for CDTSC’s second DCI, which it intends to issue this Fall, include...