On Wednesday, November 13, 2019, at 3:00 p.m. (EST), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a webinar on the Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Program. Participants will learn more about applying for the 2020 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. The webinar presentation will cover award eligibility, the application process, and evaluation criteria. There will also be time for questions from the webinar participants. As reported in our September 20, 2019, blog item, EPA...
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By Lynn L. Bergeson On November 13, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. (EST), the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will hold a hearing on “Strengthening Transparency or Silencing Science? The Future of Science in EPA Rulemaking.” The Committee will hear from the following witnesses: Panel 1 Dr. Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD); EPA Science Advisor. ...
October 18, 2019
EPA OIG Will Audit EPA’s Safer Choice Program
By Lynn L. Bergeson On September 23, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced that it plans to begin fieldwork on EPA’s Safer Choice program. According to OIG, its objectives are to identify and assess the controls that EPA has in place to verify that the Safer Choice program meets its goals and achieves quality standards through its product qualification, renewal, and required audit process. OIG states that Safer...
October 15, 2019
EPA Proposes SNUR for Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (Generic)
On October 11, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published proposed significant new use rules (SNUR) for 31 chemical substances, including multiwalled carbon nanotubes (generic), that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN). 84 Fed. Reg. 54816. EPA notes that eight of the chemical substances are subject to orders under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) issued by EPA. The effective date of the TSCA Section 5(e) order for multiwalled...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 4, 2019, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary, Sonny Perdue, announced President Trump’s negotiated agreement on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Under the agreement, EPA and USDA will undertake the following actions: In a forthcoming supplemental notice building off the recently proposed 2020 Renewable Volume Standards and the Biomass-Based Diesel Volume for...
October 4, 2019
Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton Co-Author Article on Nanotechnology and Regulatory Certainty
We are pleased to announce that the Fall 2019 issue of The SciTech Lawyer, published by the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Section of Science and Technology Law, includes an article co-authored by Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton, “Nanotechnology and Regulatory Certainty Closer Now Than Ever.” Nanoscale technologies and their resultant innovations have long captured the imaginations of scientists and inventors, the scrutiny of regulators, and the apprehension of...
September 18, 2019
EPA Researches Carbon Nanotubes in 3D Printing Filament
The September 10, 2019, issue of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Science Matters newsletter includes an article entitled “Keeping up with 3D Printing: EPA Researchers Build on New Plastic Emissions Study.” According to the article, EPA scientists, through an agreement with the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), are investigating whether increased use of 3D printers can lead to unintended adverse impacts to human health. EPA states that...
September 13, 2019
EPA Updates FY 2018-2022 Strategic Plan
By Lynn L. Bergeson On September 9, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an update to its Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-2022 Strategic Plan. According to EPA’s announcement, the only part of the plan that has been modified is its language of the strategic goals. Aiming to better reflect EPA’s environmental and policy goals, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler stated that this “update helps us [EPA] more clearly articulate our goals and commitment to providing...
By Lynn L. Bergeson On August 27, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced via the Federal Register, proposed revisions to its pesticide tolerance crop grouping regulations. These regulations allow the establishment of tolerances for multiple related crops based on data from a representative set of crops. EPA is proposing the revision of one commodity definition and the addition of three new commodity definitions. In addition, EPA’s proposal includes an amendment to...
On August 28, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) web resource for the Series 810 – Product Performance Test Guidelines: Antimicrobial Efficacy Test Guidelines. As of August 28, 2019, efficacy testing should be in compliance with the following Product Performance Test Guidelines published by EPA in February 2018: The guidelines provide recommendations for the design and execution of laboratory studies to...