All Knowledge & Insights By Date

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule on June 29, 2021, that requires manufacturers (including importers) of 50 specified chemical substances to report certain lists and copies of unpublished health and safety studies to EPA. 86 Fed. Reg. 34147. EPA is issuing the final rule pursuant to Section 8(d) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the TSCA Health and Safety Data Reporting rule codified at 40 C.F.R. Part 716. The chemical substances subject to...

On June 17, 2021, Chemical Watch published insights from Christopher R. Blunck, Senior Regulatory Specialist, The Acta Group (Acta®), regarding a proposed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) reporting rule that includes downstream users and small businesses with a lack of exemptions for the compounds’ occurrence as byproducts or impurities. That is "an extremely broad reporting requirement", said Christopher Blunck, of counsel with Bergeson & Campbell. The...

On April 9, 2021, Bloomberg Law featured comments by Lynn L. Bergeson, President, The Acta Group (Acta®) regarding a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule restricting industrial uses of a popular flame retardant is causing headaches for equipment manufacturers and demonstrating how the nation’s chemicals law can upend global supply chains. But the Environmental Protection Agency was besieged by industry pleas for help soon after the new administration came...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on June 10, 2021, three actions intended to protect communities from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The actions include proposing a rule designed to obtain comprehensive data on more than 1,000 PFAS manufactured in the United States, withdrawing guidance that EPA believes weakened its July 2020 significant new use rule (SNUR) restricting certain long-chain PFAS, and publishing a final rule that incorporates three...

On May 13, 2021, the Getting Ready for Baby Campaign, a collaboration of over 100 non-governmental organizations (NGO), released a report entitled Peeling Back the Green Façade: Calling out “Greenwashing” in the Crib Mattress Market as Lessons on Brand Manipulation of Health and Environmental Claims. Using the research for the report, Clean and Healthy New York (CHNY) filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on May 13, 2021, requesting that FTC investigate and...

Emerging tools enabled by nanotechnology, synthetic biology, and other innovative technologies are today increasingly supplementing the ploughs and tractors so emblematic of the agricultural community of the past. These precision farming tools are ensuring a sustainable food supply otherwise threatened by climate change and population growth, among other global challenges, while diminishing worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Genetically modified E coli is being used to produce...

On March 1, 2021, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) received for review under Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a proposed rule entitled “Reporting and Recordkeeping for Perfluoroalkyl or Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Under Section 8(a)(7) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)” (Proposed Rule). This action is required under Section 7351 of the National Defense...

On May 21, 2021, Law 360 quoted Lynn L. Bergeson, President, The Acta Group (Acta®), regarding some of the first moves of the Biden Administration.  President Joe Biden picked Michal Freedhoff, who helped draft the amendments and worked for the Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee during the Trump administration, to lead the agency's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Freedhoff is already in place at the agency, where she...

On May 20, 2021, Chemical Watch featured comments by Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, The Acta Group (Acta®) regarding recent policy shifts signaled by the US EPA on how it conducts TSCA risk evaluations. Incorporating environmental justice considerations "may present a significant analytical challenge if EPA seeks to move beyond a fenceline cumulative exposure approach", for example, if a worker is exposed at work and then through living near...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and The Acta Group (Acta®) are pleased to announce that Amy L. Babcock, MPH, DABT®, ERT, MRSB has joined our firms as Senior Scientist. Ms. Babcock has 15-plus years of experience leading qualitative and quantitative human health risk assessments in industry and agency roles, most recently as Supervisory Toxicologist and Branch Chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and...