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On December 12, 2018, the House passed the Conference Report for H.R. 2 (the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the Farm Bill) to provide for the reform and continuation of agricultural and other programs of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through fiscal year 2023. The Senate passed the Conference Report on December 11, 2018. Sec. 10101. Specialty crops market news allocation. Sec. 10102. Local agriculture market program. Sec....
Category: General
On December 11, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced EPA’s and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) release of their highly anticipated proposed replacement definition of “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) that defines the scope of waters and wetlands that fall under federal Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction. The 2018 WOTUS rule proposal is currently available in pre-publication format on EPA’s...
December 6, 2018
Proposed Amendments to Prop 65 Retail Seller Responsibilities Section 25600.2 (Responsibility to Provide Consumer Product Exposure Warnings)
On November 16, 2018, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) proposed amendments to Proposition 65 (Prop 65) regulations setting forth the circumstances when a “retail seller” is required to provide a consumer product exposure warning. Retail sellers are defined under the regulations as: [A] person or business that sells or otherwise provides consumer products directly to consumers by any means, including via the internet. For purposes of this...
ARGENTINA Argentina Continues Inter-agency Coordination on Chemicals and Waste Management: In 2017, the Argentinian government, recognizing that there are multiple authorities and agencies within the country that manage a variety of international conventions (e.g., The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for...
November 28, 2018
Inside EPA Features Recent B&C Blog Post in “Former ORD Acting Chief Joins EPA Toxics Office Leadership” Article
On November 28, 2018, Inside EPA included information on Lek Kadeli’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appointment first posted in Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s (B&C®) TSCAblogTM post “EPA Announces New Acting Deputy AA at OCSPP.” Lek Kadeli, a top former EPA career official in the research office (ORD), is joining the management team for EPA's toxics office, bolstering the office as it ramps up to implement the revised Toxic Substances Control...
On November 26, 2018, Inside EPA included information from Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s (B&C®) memorandum “EPA Publishes First Draft TSCA Chemical Risk Evaluation” in the article “EPA's PV29 Assessment Likely to Test Reformed TSCA's Data Standards.” In a Nov. 16 memo on the draft's release, the law firm Bergeson and Campbell suggests that there may be little reason to challenge the agency's finding though it leaves the door open to questioning the...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice on November 15, 2018, announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on the first draft chemical risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), as amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg). The draft risk evaluation for Colour Index (C.I.) Pigment Violet 29 is intended to determine whether C.I. Pigment...
November 14, 2018
Inside EPA Features Comments By Christopher R. Bryant Regarding Conditional RCRA Exemptions for Airbag Removals
On November 14, 2018, Inside EPA spoke with Christopher R. Bryant, Senior Regulatory Specialist, The Acta Group (Acta®), for the article “EPA Eases RCRA For Airbag Removals But Keeps Hazardous Waste Status.” [W]hile dealers and others removing the airbags will be conditionally exempt under the new rule, others further down the waste stream will not, says Chris Bryant, a former EPA waste official who is now a senior regulatory consultant with Bergeson and...
November 13, 2018
Charles M. Auer Quoted In Inside EPA Article “Congress Gears Up For TSCA Oversight But Bipartisan Prospects Limited”
On November 13, 2018, Charles M. Auer, Senior Regulatory and Policy Advisor, The Acta Group (Acta®), was quoted by Inside EPA regarding Congress’ plan to oversee the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). “There may be some bipartisan oversight on nuts and bolts questions. But my guess is that each side will generally focus questions on 'their' issues and concerns,” says Charles Auer, a...
On November 12, 2018, Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry for The Acta Group (Acta®), was featured on National Public Radio’s (NPR) morning news program “Morning Edition” during a segment on the chemical methylene chloride. Reporter Rebecca Hersher asked Dr. Engler, a 17-year veteran of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) and leader of EPA's Green Chemistry Program, about EPA’s review of methylene chloride and...