March 8, 2022

EPA Publishes Final Scope of D4 Risk Evaluation, Seeks Comment on Draft Revision to PV29 Risk Determination

On March 7, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of the final scope of the risk evaluation to be conducted for octamethylcyclotetra-siloxane (D4), a chemical substance for which EPA received a manufacturer request for risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 87 Fed. Reg. 12696. The scope document includes the conditions of use (COU), hazards, exposures, and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations (PESS)...
March 7, 2022

EPA Will Extend Compliance Dates for Articles Containing PIP (3:1)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 4, 2022, that EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan signed a final rule on March 3, 2022, that will amend the regulations applicable to phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)) promulgated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA states that it is extending the compliance date applicable to the prohibition on processing and distribution in commerce of certain PIP (3:1)-containing articles, and the PIP (3:1) used to...
March 2, 2022

Lynn L. Bergeson Quoted in Chemical Watch Article “EPA to scrap TSCA inventory corrections process”

On March 1, 2022, Lynn L. Bergeson, President, The Acta Group (Acta®), was quoted by Chemical Watch responding to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) announcement that it will no longer allow companies to request corrections to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) inventory and instead require them to submit a pre-manufacture notice (PMN) for improperly identified substances.   The decision "is entirely unprincipled and based on a...
March 1, 2022

Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Quoted in Bloomberg Law Article “EPA Drops Policy Chemical Makers Use to Correct Critical List”

On Feburary 28, 2022, Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry with The Acta Group (Acta®), was quoted by Bloomberg Law regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) announcement that, as of April 26, it will no longer process chemical manufacturers’ requests to correct the specific ways chemicals on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) inventory are identified. If the EPA is concerned that companies are using correction requests to add new...
March 1, 2022

Global Regulatory Update for March 2022

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...
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...
March 1, 2022

EPA Holds Webinar on TSCA Requirements and PMN Process for Biofuels

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...
February 28, 2022

FIFRA Stakeholders: Update to How to Respond to an Enforcement Action or Inquiry

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....
February 22, 2022

Canadian Government Introduces Bill Intended to Modernize CEPA

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...