Facing a government shutdown, late on April 30, 2017, lawmakers reached agreement on a spending bill that funds the federal government through September 2017, which is the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. President Trump’s budget blueprint sought to slash EPA’s coffers by some 31 percent (and more if certain programs were eliminated from the base). The deal reached by lawmakers, however, would essentially fund EPA at its current levels and retain current staff...
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On April 30, 2012, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced the availability of three appendices, updating Chapters R.7a, R.7b, and R.7c of the Guidance on Information Requirements and Chemical Safety Assessment (IR & CSA). ECHA prepared a draft revision of the Guidance, based on the outcome of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Implementation Projects on Nanomaterials (RIP-oN) 2 final report. ECHA updated the Guidance via a fast-track...
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) sent three new draft appendices to Chapters R.8, R.10, and R.14 of the guidance on information requirements and chemical safety assessment concerning recommendations for nanomaterials to the Competent Authorities for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and Classification, Labeling, and Packaging (CLP) (CARACAL). The draft appendices are based on the results of the REACH Implementation Project on Nanomaterials...
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently published a new document in its series on the safety of manufactured nanomaterials, Important Issues on Risk Assessment of Manufactured Nanomaterials. The document was prepared by Steering Group Six of the Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN), which is leading the project on cooperation on risk assessment, and was endorsed at the ninth meeting of the WPMN in December 2011. The document provides the current...
On February 22, 2012, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) issued a press release announcing that it is currently preparing an update of its Guidance on Information Requirements and Chemical Safety Assessment (IR & CSA) based on the European Commission’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Implementation Project on Nanomaterials (RIP-oN). Because the next registration deadline of May 31, 2013, is approaching quickly, ECHA “will facilitate...
November 2, 2011
EC Publishes Final RIPoN Reports
The European Commission (EC) began in 2009 a Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Implementation Project on Nanomaterials (RIPoN), which it intended to provide advice on key aspects of the implementation of REACH with regard to nanomaterials. The EC recently posted final reports concerning nanomaterials and information requirements (RIPoN 2) and chemical safety assessment (RIPoN 3). The EC states that, based on the scientific and...
June 1, 2011
OECD Provides Snapshot on Current and Planned Activities on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials
On May 26, 2011, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) posted a document entitled “Current Developments/Activities on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials,” which provides information on the outcomes and developments of the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) related to the safety of manufactured nanomaterials. OECD states that the document “provides a snapshot of information on current/planned activities related to the safety of...
March 22, 2011
Dutch Urge EU to Act on Nanomaterials
In February 2011, the Dutch Environmental Safety and Risk Management Directorate sent a letter to the Directorate General (DG) Enterprise and DG Environment expressing concern regarding delays in the work of the Competent Authorities Sub-Group on Nanomaterials (CASG Nano) and the European Commission’s (EC) progress regarding clarifying the definition and status of nanomaterials. The Dutch Directorate states that an essential first step is to define what nanomaterials are and asks that the EC...
December 8, 2010
OECD Posts New and Revised Publications in the Series on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials
On December 3, 2010, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) posted two documents in its series on the safety of manufactured nanomaterials: ...
November 24, 2010
USDA ORACBA Risk Forum Discusses Moving Beyond Nanogeneralities
On November 16, 2010, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Risk-Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis (ORACBA) convened a Risk Forum on “Moving Beyond Nanogeneralities — Providing Focus to Nanopolicy Progress.” Presenters included Richard Canady, Ph.D., DABT, Director, Center for Human Health Risk Assessment Research Foundation of the International Life Sciences Institute; Steve Froggett, Expert Consultant, ICF International, Inc; and Guillaume Gruere, International...