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“The newly formed Alliance for Chemical Nomenclature (AChN), is comprised of manufacturers and users of fractioned substances as well as manufacturers and users of unknown, variable, complex, or biological substances (UVCBs), who could potentially be affected by EPA enforcement actions now targeting a growing number of companies for alleged reporting violations, according to a March 11 blog post by Kathleen Roberts of B&C Consortia Management, L.L.C., which is affiliated with the corporate...

On April 17, 2013, the United Kingdom's (UK) Department for Business, Innovation and Skills launched a public consultation on the implementation of the recast Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. The consultation focuses on how the government should amend the existing WEEE regulations to ensure compliance with the recast WEEE Directive published on July 24, 2012, and on how to respond to concerns from UK producers of electrical and electronic equipment under the...

In its April 30, 2012, publication, FY 2013 Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) National Program Manager (NPM) Guidance, OECA discusses its enforcement objectives and program priorities for fiscal year (FY) 2013. In discussing notable changes for FY 2013 from FY 2012, OECA lists budget challenges and states that it must cut resources in certain areas: "Anticipating tight budgets in FY 2013 and beyond, EPA's enforcement program needs to focus its limited resources...

On April 10, 2013, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) released what many believe to be the last revisions to the proposed Safer Consumer Products Regulations (Revised Proposed Regulations). The Revised Proposed Regulations are subject to a 15-day comment period, ending April 25, 2013. Memoranda providing background information are available online. The Revised Proposed Regulations are available online. In summary, DTSC has not made many...

Pesticide and Chemical Policy quoted Lynn L. Bergeson in their April 12, 2013 Daily News Alert article on the reintroduced Safe Chemicals Act: “The Lautenberg bill is “the same as it ever was ... and offers no changes from what was passed," says Lynn Bergeson. "It is discouraging there is nothing new." But something new could be coming soon, specifically a Republican proposal to revamp TSCA from Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), the ranking...

On April 10, 2013, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) reintroduced the Safe Chemicals Act (S. 696), which would reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and is identical to legislation (S. 847) reported favorably out of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on a party-line vote in the 112th Congress. In his April 10, 2013, press release, Senator Lautenberg states that, compared to earlier versions of the legislation, the Safe Chemicals Act of 2013 "includes a number of...

AUSTRALIA NICNAS Releases Second Batch Of IMAP Assessments: The National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) began a public comment period on the assessment outcomes of the second batch Inventory Multi-tiered Assessment and Prioritization (IMAP) assessments. NICNAS released the following information: Tier I -- Human Health Assessments: These chemicals are not considered to pose an unreasonable risk to the health of...

On March 27, 2013, as part of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Work Plan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will begin assessments on 23 chemicals, with a specific focus on flame retardant chemicals. According to EPA's press release, EPA will evaluate 20 flame retardant chemicals, conducting full risk assessments for four of the flame retardants, three of which are on the TSCA Work Plan, and one of which was the subject of an Action Plan. In addition to the...

The March 25, 2013, issue of Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report quoted Lynn L. Bergeson, Kathleen M. Roberts, and Charles Auer in a special report on EPA’s increased interest in fractions. The article also referenced B&C’s March 11 memorandum on the enforcement effort, and the newly-formed coalition Alliance for Chemical Nomenclature (AChN),...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) convened an in-person and on-line public forum today to discuss OPPT's ongoing efforts to develop an interactive public website. The website would integrate a wide range of chemical data collected and EPA assessments conducted under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) programs, as supplemented by additional EPA resources such as the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) and the Toxics Release...