The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a webinar on November 1, 2022, on a new research funding opportunity, “Developing and Demonstrating Nanosensor Technology to Detect, Monitor, and Degrade Pollutants.” EPA states that environmental pollutants such as pesticides, insecticides, dyes, phenols, endocrine disrupters, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), heavy metals, and nitrogen compounds can have adverse effects on human health...
Archives
September 30, 2022
EPA Issues Final SNUR for MWCNTs (Generic)
On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final significant new use rules (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for certain chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN), including multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) (generic). 87 Fed. Reg. 58999. The SNUR requires persons who intend to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or process the chemical substance identified generically as MWCNTs (PMN...
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 18, 2022, that it is accepting nominations for the 2023 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards from companies or institutions that have developed a new green chemistry process or product that helps protect human health and the environment. The awards again include a category to recognize technology that reduces or eliminates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. EPA will hold a...
August 20, 2022
EPA Collaborates with Unilever to Advance Non-Animal Approaches for Chemical Risk Assessment
On August 19, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a collaborative agreement with Unilever to explore better ways to assess chemical risks associated with consumer products. According to EPA, this agreement builds on prior cooperation between EPA and Unilever regarding New Approach Methods (NAM), “which are a promising alternative to conventional toxicity testing that are intended to reduce reliance on the use of animals.” EPA states that the collaboration...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 18, 2022, that it is accepting nominations for the 2023 Green Chemistry Challenge Awards from companies or institutions that have developed a new green chemistry process or product that helps protect human health and the environment. The awards again include a category to recognize technology that reduces or eliminates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. EPA will hold a webinar on September 28, 2022, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m....
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 1, 2022, a 15-day public comment period on two additional peer review candidates for the external peer review of the Biofuels and the Environment: Third Triennial Report to Congress (RtC3). 87 Fed. Reg. 46958. EPA previously requested comment on an initial pool of 20 candidates announced in a May 9, 2022, Federal Register notice. EPA states that after considering public...
July 19, 2022
EPA Will Hold Kick-Off Meeting on TSCA New Chemical Engineering Initiative to Increase Transparency and Reduce Rework
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) New Chemicals Program will hold a webinar on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. (EDT). During the webinar, EPA will provide an in-depth look at its analysis of common issues that cause EPA to have to reconduct risk assessments (“rework”) before taking questions from the audience. As reported in our June 27, 2022, memorandum, in June 2022, EPA announced a broad outreach effort to describe and to discuss...
July 19, 2022
EPA Will Hold Kick-Off Meeting on TSCA New Chemical Engineering Initiative to Increase Transparency
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) New Chemicals Program will hold a webinar on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. (EDT). During the webinar, EPA will provide an in-depth look at its analysis of common issues that cause EPA to have to reconduct risk assessments (“rework”) before taking questions from the audience. As reported in our June 27, 2022, memorandum, in June 2022,...
July 14, 2022
GAO Finds Remaining Priority Recommendations for EPA Include Four Priority Recommendations for the IRIS Program
On July 8, 2022, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) publicly released its 2022 update on its priority open recommendations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In June 2021, GAO identified 22 priority recommendations for EPA. According to GAO, EPA has since implemented ten of those recommendations by requiring states to report quarterly to EPA on the number of lead service lines in each public water system in the state and providing direction to staff on...
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On May 27, 2022, EPA announced that it is seeking nominations for technical experts to serve as Special Government Employees (SGE) to participate in the review of the New Chemicals Collaborative Research Program with the Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC), a federal advisory committee to the Office of Research and Development (ORD). EPA will consider nominees from industry, business, public and private research institutes or...