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On October 25, 2011, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) Assistant Administrator Stephen A. Owens announced his resignation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In his message to EPA staff, Mr. Owens stated: I am writing to tell you that, after more than two years of working closely with all of you to protect Americans' health and environment, I have made the difficult decision to leave EPA. My last day in the office will be November 30, 2011.As many of you...
The October 21, 2011, Federal Register includes two test rules concerning high production volume (HPV) chemicals: a final test rule for certain chemicals from the third group, and a proposed test rule and proposed significant new use rule (SNUR) for the fourth group of chemicals. See 76 Fed. Reg. 65385 and 65580, respectively. The proposed "SNUR plus test rule" represents a novel approach for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in handling HPV...
On October 20, 2011, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) released its 2011 Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Strategy (Strategy), which is intended to provide guidance to the federal agencies that produce scientific information for risk management, regulatory decision-making, product use, research planning, and public outreach. The Strategy lists the following core research areas providing this information: (1) nanomaterial measurement infrastructure; (2)...
The European Commission (EC) adopted on October 18, 2011, a Recommendation on the definition of a nanomaterial. The Recommendation "invites" member states, European Union agencies, and economic operators to use the following definition of nanomaterial "in the adoption and implementation of legislation and policy and research programmes concerning products of nanotechnologies": "Nanomaterial" means a natural, incidental or manufactured material containing particles, in an unbound state or as an...
October 6, 2011
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Environmental Regulation and Its Impact on the Economy
On October 6, 2011, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a hearing on "Chemical Risk Assessment: What Works for Jobs and the Economy?" According to the background memorandum, the hearing was intended to explore the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), and the relationship between IRIS and EPA's regulatory requirements, "specifically whether IRIS is producing high quality science-based risk assessments...
On September 28, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final guidance on the weight-of-evidence (WoE) (Final WoE Guidance) analysis that it will use to evaluate the results of data submitted in response to test orders issued for Tier 1 screening under the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). This WoE analysis, in turn, will be used to determine what substances merit further study under Tier 2 as substances that have the potential to interact with the estrogen,...
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy will hold a hearing on October 6, 2011, on "Chemical Risk Assessment: What Works for Jobs and the Economy?" The hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m. The witness list is not yet publicly available. We understand the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) process will be a subject of discussion....
On September 19-20, 2011, the Pesticide Operations Management (POM) Working Committee (WC) of the State Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Issues Research & Evaluation Group (SFIREG) met in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offices in Arlington, Virginia. Through a cooperative agreement in 1978, EPA and the Association of American Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) created SFIREG, an AAPCO committee with EPA funding, to promote information exchange and...
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SEPTEMBER 15, 2011 -- SAVE THE DATE Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C), B&C Consortia Management, L.L.C. (BCCM), The Acta Group, L.L.C. (Acta), and The Acta Group EU, Ltd (Acta EU) are pleased to announce that B&C will host a complimentary webinar on the final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule on Thursday, September 15, 2011, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EDT). This webinar will provide an overview of the new...
August 23, 2011
EPA Invites Public Input on Its Planned Process for Identifying Priority Chemicals under TSCA
Embracing new social media tools, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on August 18, 2011, invited stakeholders to provide feedback on its new approach for identifying priority chemicals for review and assessment under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Noting that EPA's online discussion forum will remain open until 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on September 14, 2011, EPA invited public input on its "Discussion Guide: Background and Discussion Questions for Identifying...
August 16, 2011
Chemical Data Reporting Rule Analysis: Announcement of Webinar on Chemical Data Reporting Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on August 2, 2011, the pre-publication copy of the final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule, previously referred to as the Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) Modifications Rule. The rule was published on August 16, 2011. 76 Fed. Reg. 50816. Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. will host a webinar on the CDR Rule in mid to late September and will provide under separate cover webinar registration...
August 3, 2011
EPA Announces Chemical Data Reporting Rule, Which Replaces the IUR Modifications Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 2, 2011, the final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule, previously referred to as the Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) Modifications Rule. The CDR is intended to enable EPA to collect and publish information on the manufacturing, processing, and use of commercial chemical substances and mixtures on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory (TSCA Inventory). This includes current information on...
July 29, 2011
OECD Releases Guidance and Surveys Regarding Minor Use Pesticide Registration Incentives
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently released three documents on pesticide minor uses: (1) Guidance Document on Regulatory Incentives for the Registration of Pesticide Minor Uses (Minor Use Guidance); (2) OECD Survey on Regulatory Incentives for the Registration of Pesticide Minor Uses: Survey Results; and (3) OECD Survey on Efficacy & Crop Safety Data Requirements & Guidelines for the Registration of...
On July 26, 2011, the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in coordination with the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to request comment on how current regulations for protecting human subjects who participate in research might be modernized and revised to be more effective. The ANPR seeks comment on how to protect better human subjects who are involved in research, while facilitating...
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently scheduled to publish on July 26, 2011, an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) concerning testing of bisphenol A (BPA). EPA will request comments on requiring toxicity testing to determine the potential for BPA to cause adverse effects, including endocrine-related effects, in environmental organisms at low concentrations. EPA will also seek comments on requiring environmental testing consisting of sampling and monitoring for BPA...
July 18, 2011
Green Ribbon Science Panel Meets to Discuss Safer Consumer Product Alternatives Regulations
The Green Ribbon Science Panel (Panel) met on July 14-15, 2011, to discuss potential revisions to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control's (DTSC) Safer Consumer Product Alternatives (SCPA) regulations, as required by AB 1879. Under AB 1879 and Health and Safety Code (HSC) 25253, DTSC is required to adopt regulations "that establish a process for evaluating chemicals of concern in consumer products, and their potential alternatives, to determine how best to limit exposure or to...
July 14, 2011
Senate Science and Space Subcommittee Holds Hearing on National Nanotechnology Investment
On July, 14, 2011, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation's Science and Space Subcommittee held a hearing on national nanotechnology investment. The hearing was held to examine the potential of nanotechnology, federal initiatives to coordinate research investments, barriers to commercialization, possible environmental and health risks, and steps Congress can take to improve the return on federal nanotechnology investments as the Committee works on drafting a...
On July 14, 2011, the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight held a hearing on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program. According to the hearing charter, the hearing was prompted in part by the recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report on EPA's formaldehyde assessment, which focused on the process EPA uses to develop initially draft IRIS assessments and which is separate from the overall...