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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 20, 2020, the final list of 20 chemical substances designated as low-priority substances for which risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is not warranted at this time. EPA has posted a pre-publication version of the Federal Register notice. The notice includes the final designation for each of the chemical substances and instructions on how to access the...

Federal enforcement of chemical product laws is alive and well, despite a broadly held misconception to the contrary. We have seen over the past 18 months or so an uptick in federal enforcement under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). We write to alert you to this fact and focus here on TSCA enforcement, as we believe we will see this trend continue in 2020. We will devote a second client alert to FIFRA enforcement....

On February 6, 2020, comments by James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant with Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®), were featured in a Washington Post article about Corteva Agriscience’s decision to stop producing the pesticide chlorpyrifos. Jim Aidala, a consultant for Corteva who served as EPA’s associate administrator for pesticides and toxics under Bill Clinton, said in an interview that because the Obama administration made a decision on...

On December 10, 2019, the U.S. Senate received and read twice the Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2019 (Act). Passed by the U.S. House of Representatives one day prior to the Senate’s review, the Act -- H.R. 2051 -- if approved, will establish an interagency working group led by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to coordinate federal programs and activities in support of sustainable chemistry. This is an exciting development and, for sustainable...

On January 24, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the draft risk evaluation of carbon tetrachloride, “a solvent primarily used in the manufacturing of chlorinated compounds and petrochemicals.” Carbon tetrachloride is the seventh of the first ten chemicals to undergo risk evaluation under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA published a Federal Register notice on January 27, 2020, announcing the availability of the draft risk...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to announce the release of the complete suite of TSCA Tutor™ regulatory training courses online and on-demand at www.TSCAtutor.com.  Professionals seeking expert, efficient, essential training can preview and enroll in on-demand classes to complete at their own pace and timing.  In addition to the newly released online e-learning courses, B&C’s TSCA Tutor™ training platform offers live in-person training at a...

On January 14, 2020, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) adopted amendments it proposed on November 16, 2018, and modified on October 4, 2019, to the Proposition 65 (Prop 65) regulations setting forth the circumstances when a “retail seller” is responsible for providing consumer product exposure warnings. The amendments are effective on April 1, 2020. The amendments adopted have not changed since OEHHA’s October 4, 2019,...

Forecast For U.S. Federal And International Chemical Regulatory Policy 2020: Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and its consulting affiliate The Acta Group (Acta®) are pleased to offer you our Forecast 2020. In this detailed and comprehensive document, the legal, scientific, and regulatory professionals of B&C and Acta distill key trends in U.S. and global chemical law and policy, and provide our best informed judgment as to the shape of key...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on December 20, 2019, an updated version of the “Working Approach” document that builds upon EPA’s November 2017 “New Chemicals Decision-Making Framework: Working Approach to Making Determinations under Section 5 of TSCA.” EPA states that the updated document, “TSCA New Chemical Determinations: A Working Approach for Making Determinations under TSCA Section 5,” explains its approach for making one of the five affirmative...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on December 20, 2019, the final list of high-priority chemicals. These chemicals will be the next 20 chemicals to undergo risk evaluation under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to EPA, issuing the final list of high-priority chemicals for risk evaluation “represents the final step in the prioritization process outlined in TSCA and marks another major TSCA milestone for EPA in its efforts to ensure the safety of...