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On July 18, 2017, Charles M. Auer, Senior Regulatory and Policy Advisor with The Acta Group (Acta®), and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Senior Chemist with Acta, were quoted by Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) data gathering authority. […] The EPA's recent rules don't mention any intention to use the agency's new authority under the amended chemicals law to order companies to provide toxicity or...
Category: General
July 18, 2017
Court Tosses RCRA Verified Recycler Exclusion but Retains Balance of Definition of Solid Waste Rule
On July 7, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found “unreasonable,” and thus threw out, the “verified recycler” exclusion promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in its 2015 revisions to the definition of solid waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The court reinstated the “transfer-based” exclusion promulgated by EPA under the Bush Administration. In the case, American Petroleum Institute v....
July 12, 2017
Michael S. Wenk, M.S., to Speak at AOCS Latin American Congress and Exhibition on Fats, Oils, and Lipids
Michael S. Wenk, M.S., Senior Regulatory Consultant with The Acta Group (Acta®) and Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), has been invited to speak on the current state of play of Central and South American chemical regulations at the 17th AOCS Latin American Congress and Exhibition on Fats, Oils, and Lipids, September 11-14, 2017, in Cancun, Mexico. Mr. Wenk will present “Chemical Substance Management in Central and South...
On May 30, 2017, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule became effective. 81 Fed. Reg. 85732 (Nov. 28, 2016). The rule will not become effective in RCRA-authorized states, however, until the states adopt the provisions and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approves those state programs that adopt the rule. Please see our Monthly Update for December 2016 for additional detail on the rule. The potential scope of the...
June 29, 2017
Charles Auer Quoted in Inside EPA Article “The Emerging Debate Over New TSCA Rules: ‘Achievable’ v. ‘Lawful’”
On June 29, 2017, Charles M. Auer, Senior Regulatory and Policy Advisor with The Acta Group (Acta®), was quoted by Inside EPA in an article regarding Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) framework rules and how they should be implemented. His comments were made on June 27, 2017, during an Environmental Law Institute (ELI) conference celebrating the reformed law’s first anniversary. […] Former career EPA toxics chief Charles Auer, now with the law firm Bergeson...
The Acta Group (Acta®) has been closely tracking the development of Brazil’s Industrial Chemicals Regulation (Regulação de Substâncias Químicas Industriais, or Regulação), which still only exists in draft form. As discussed in our Global Regulatory Update for June 2017, “on May 22, 2017, it was announced that, due to changes inside the Brazilian Ministry of Environment (Ministério do Meio Ambiente, or MMA), the extraordinary meetings of the...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on June 22, 2017, the pre-publication Federal Register notices of the final framework actions under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), as revised by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (new TSCA). The final rules include the prioritization process rule, which establishes EPA’s process and criteria for identifying High-Priority chemicals for risk evaluation and Low-Priority chemicals...
On June 21, 2017, Inside EPA quoted Lynn L. Bergeson, President of The Acta Group (Acta®), in the article “As EPA Issues TSCA's Framework Rules, Bipartisan Law Faces Challenges.” […] Lynn Bergeson, managing partner of the firm Bergeson & Campbell, suggested some concern in EPA's ability to advance use of these new technologies. She too, noted Lautenberg's requirements regarding non-animal testing, including its direction that EPA craft a plan to mange the...
June 20, 2017
Minamata Convention on Mercury Achieves Ratification: International Use and Mining of Mercury Targeted for Scale Down
The Minamata Convention on Mercury (Convention), a global treaty aimed at scaling down mercury use and production developed by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), recently surpassed the 50-country threshold required for it to become legally binding for all of its parties. This occurred on May 18, 2017, when the European Union (EU) and seven of its member states (Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania, and Sweden) ratified the Convention. The...
June 27, 2017, 9:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. (EDT) Milken Institute School of Public HealthGeorge Washington University950 New Hampshire Ave., N.W.1st Floor AuditoriumWashington, D.C. (and via webinar) Register TodayThis event is free and open to the public. Join the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health for a day-long conference exploring the federal government’s...