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EVENTS: Register Now For “UK REACH, What’s Happened And What’s Next?,” On March 23, 2022: Companies worldwide must be aware of the significant implications for chemical regulatory compliance under the United Kingdom (UK) REACH regulation as the UK has completed its first year of complete separation from the European Union (EU). Companies should act quickly to understand their rights and obligations under UK REACH to maintain...
Category: General
March 1, 2022
Lynn L. Bergeson, “PFAS: making sound investment decisions,” Financier Worldwide, March 2022.
The ubiquity of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and the manufacturing sector’s decades-long reliance on them to impart functionalities in a dizzying array of products put the investor between the proverbial rock and a hard place. PFAS varied chemical properties make the broad categorisation of ‘PFAS’ into a monolithic category of ‘forever chemicals’ chemically and scientifically questionable. For better or worse, however, that is exactly what is happening today, and...
On February 23, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a webinar on requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the premanufacture notice (PMN) process for biofuels. As reported in our January 24, 2022, blog item, in January 2022, EPA announced an effort to streamline the review of new biobased or waste-derived chemicals that could displace current, higher greenhouse gas (GHG)-emitting transportation fuels. According to EPA, it has received...
Contrary to popular opinion, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) enforcement activity under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) has been trending upward over the last couple of years. As noted in our earlier advisory memorandum on enforcement activity under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), although most parties subject to TSCA inspections receive a “boilerplate” letter, FIFRA enforcement actions tend to be more heterogeneous....
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) announced on February 9, 2022, that the government introduced in the Senate the Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act (Bill S-5), intended to modernize the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) and make related amendments to the Food and Drugs Act (FDA). The bill was initially introduced in the 43rd Parliament in April 2021 as Bill C-28, but it was not considered due to the federal election...
February 16, 2022
Lynn L. Bergeson and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Quoted by Inside TSCA in “Industry Sees NAMs Aiding New Chemical Reviews, But Laments PPE Delays”
On February 15, 2022, Lynn L. Bergeson, President, The Acta Group (Acta®), and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, Acta, were quoted by Inside TSCA regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) application of new approach methods (NAMs) and category-based analyses for new-chemical reviews. An industry attorney says EPA’s application of new approach methods (NAMs) and category-based analyses for new-chemical reviews is...
On January 20, 2022, the European Commission (EC) launched a public consultation seeking comment on a proposed revision of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation (No. 1907/2006). The consultation is the most extensive to date; it covers many elements of the legislation and, once changes are implemented, will have a significant impact on industry for the future. The consultation topics include: Revision of the registration requirements,...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule on January 26, 2022, to amend procedures for determining when a food contact substance notification (FCN) is no longer effective. 87 Fed. Reg. 3949. FDA states that the proposed rule would allow industry and FDA more flexibility in responding to new information on the safety and use of food contact substances. The amendments aim to create administration mechanisms to improve the program’s overall efficiency. Comments are...
January 25, 2022
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Isn’t It Ironic?,” American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) Blog, January 25, 2022.
The Biden Administration’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is laser focused on achieving several “whole-of-government” priorities: addressing climate change, identifying and giving environmental justice greater consideration in decision-making, and following the science wherever it may lead. Knowing and respecting leadership in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) tasked with achieving these laudable yet daunting objectives, there is no question the...
On January 24, 2022, Chemical Watch quoted Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry with The Acta Group (Acta®), in the article "Proposal on the horizon to update TSCA confidentiality procedures." According to Richard Engler, director of chemistry at industry law firm Bergeson & Campbell and a 17-year veteran of the EPA, this could be aimed at ensuring the agency can get in touch with CBI claim holders. "One of the challenges EPA faces is...