Archives

May 24, 2019

EPA Announces Section 5 Notices To Be Posted Without EPA Review — Filers Should Be Extra Diligent A

By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 20, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that on May 30, 2019, it will begin publishing Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 5 notices, including premanufacture notices (PMN), microbial commercial activity notices (MCAN), and significant new use notices (SNUN), their attachments, including any health and safety studies, any modifications thereto, and all other associated information in ChemView -- in the form they are received by EPA,...
May 22, 2019

ACS to Host Green Chemistry Challenge Awards

On June 10, 2019, at 5:00 p.m., the American Chemical Society (ACS) will hold the 2019 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.  Sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), in partnership with the ACS Green Chemistry Institute® and members of the chemical community, these prestigious annual awards recognize chemical technologies that incorporate the principles of green...
May 19, 2019

EPA Issues Notice to Manufacturers and Processors on the TSCA Inactive Inventory

On May 9, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would soon be making available a signed action signed on May 6, 2019, that identifies chemical substances for inactive designation according to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Requirements rule.  The pre-publication version of the notice is available here.  Specifically, EPA states that the signed action is a companion to the first version of the TSCA...
May 16, 2019

EPA Updates Its New Chemical Statistics Web Page to Increase Transparency

On May 16, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has updated its Statistics for the New Chemicals Review Program under TSCA web page, which is under EPA’s Reviewing New Chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) section, to make it easier to find and understand how many chemicals are in each stage of the new chemicals review process.  The revised web page now includes a flow chart showing the number of new chemicals cases...
May 10, 2019

U.S. Senators Submit Letter To Wheeler On RFS Reset Requirements

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 30, 2019, 15 U.S. Senators signed and submitted a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, urging him to protect U.S. consumers and account for the ethanol blend wall when setting annual target volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) requirements. According to the letter, a decrease in consumer demand for gasoline has occurred since the RFS Program was passed into law. Instead of the original 170 billion gallons...
May 6, 2019

EPA Releases Proposed Interim Registration Review Decision for Glyphosate; ATSDR Announces Availability of Draft Toxicological Profile for Glyphosate

On May 6, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was releasing its Proposed Interim Registration Review Decision (PID) for glyphosate acid and its various salt forms.  84 Fed. Reg. 19782.  In the PID, EPA states that it “did not identify any human health risks from exposure to any use of glyphosate” but did identify “potential risk to mammals and birds” within the application area or areas near the application area and “potential...
May 3, 2019

EPA Corrects 200 ppb Level Description in Technical Amendment to Data Requirements for Antimicrobial Pesticides Final Rule

On May 3, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was making final a single correction to the data requirements for antimicrobial pesticide products codified in 40 C.F.R. Part 158, subpart W.  84 Fed. Reg. 18993.  The correction clarifies that the 200 parts per billion (ppb) level described in the antimicrobial pesticides data requirements regulations (40 C.F.R. § 158.2230(d)) “is based on total estimated daily dietary intake for an individual and...
April 29, 2019

Workshop Report Published on EU-U.S. Priorities in Nanosafety

On March 5-6, 2019, a workshop on “Fostering EU‐U.S. Cooperation in Nanosafety” was held.  According to the workshop report, the workshop intended to answer two main questions: What should be the future research priorities in nanosafety and other advanced materials; and What are the opportunities for European Union (EU)‐U.S. cooperation priorities in nanosafety. The discussion was based on the state of implementation of the 2013 report, Nanosafety in Europe...
April 26, 2019

D.C. Circuit Partially Denies Petition for Review of TSCA Inventory Rule; Holds that the Reverse Engineering Aspect of the Inventory Rule “Comes Up Short” and Remands Issue Back to EPA

On April 26, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (D.C. Circuit) issued its order on petition for review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Requirements (82 Fed. Reg. 37520 (Aug. 11, 2017)), which denied the petition for review on all but one claim.  Petitioner Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) challenged five distinct features of the Inventory final rule: ...
April 25, 2019

EPA Releases Interpretive Statement on whether CWA NPDES Permit Program Applies to Releases of a Pollutant from a Point Source to Groundwater

On April 23, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was making available its Interpretive Statement addressing whether the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program applies to releases of a pollutant from a point source to groundwater (Interpretive Statement) for comment.  84 Fed. Reg. 16810.  EPA is issuing the Interpretative statement to “provide clarity on [EPA’s] interpretation...