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AUSTRALIA Australia Seeks Comment On Sixth Tranche Of IMAP Assessments: The National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) has published for public comment the sixth tranche of human health and environmental assessments for chemicals identified as part of the Stage One implementation of the Inventory Multi-Tiered Assessment and Prioritization (IMAP) Framework. NICNAS requests comments where information that has the...

On November 20, 2013, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its intent to release for comment proposed Draft Guidelines for Product Environmental Performance Standards and Ecolabels for Voluntary Use in Federal Procurement (Draft Guidelines). EPA states the Draft Guidelines -- developed by EPA, the General Services Administration (GSA), and other federal agencies following several "listening sessions" with a wide range of stakeholders -- are intended to help federal...

On November 13, 2013, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a hearing on the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (S. 1009) (CSIA), which was introduced in May 2013 by the late Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Senator David Vitter (R-LA). Earlier this year, the House Subcommittee held hearings to provide an overview of Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); examine TSCA Sections 5 and 14, which address the regulation of new chemicals, new...

On November 7, 2013, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision granting in part and denying in part the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) petition for review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) conditional registration of HeiQ AGS-20 and AGS-20 U (collectively, AGS-20) pesticide products that EPA has determined contain nanoscale silver (nanosilver). The court vacated EPA's decision "insofar as it concluded that there was no risk concern...

There are 26 days remaining until the December 1 deadline by which employers must have trained their workers on the new label elements and the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) format as required under the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). While there is still time to meet the requirements, companies must act quickly. Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and The Acta Group (Acta) can...

On October 29, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced six enforcement actions concerning misleading and unsubstantiated environmental marketing claims. In a case imposing a $450,000 civil penalty, FTC filed a complaint and consent order against a company for violating a 1994 FTC order prohibiting it from making unsupported green claims for its paper plates and bags. In the five other actions, FTC addressed biodegradable plastic claims for the first time. In one case, FTC filed a...

Lynn L. Bergeson was quoted in a Chemical Watch article on California’s new Safer Consumer Products Regulations (SCPR): “Information generated by REACH analyses could help position entities ‘favourably to be aware of what their obligations are under the Safer Consumer Products Regulations, and perhaps position them better to meet those requirements,’ said Lynn Bergeson of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.”...

Inside E.P.A. Weekly Report, October 11, 2013, featured comments made by Kathleen M. Roberts, Vice President of B&C affiliate Bergeson & Campbell Consortia Management, in “Industry Questions EPA Planning Of New TSCA Risk Assessment Program:”“During the Sept. 26 meeting, the first of three peer review meetings, officials with the NMP Producers Group, an affiliate of the law firm Bergeson & Campbell, told the panelists reviewing DCM and NMP that...

In an October 11, 2013, story titled “Pesticide Imports Halted at U.S. Ports; Importers Seek to Gauge, Address Impact,” James V. Aidala shared his insight on possible effects of the government shutdown on the processing of import notices: “Jim Aidala, former assistant administrator for the EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, told Bloomberg BNA that the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA)—not the pesticide...

The October 10, 2013, issue of Daily Environment Report featured a memorandum issued by Acta in the story “Toxic Substances Manufacturers Urged to Review Obligations as China Executes Hazardous Chemicals Rule:” “The Acta Group LLC, a consulting affiliate of the law firm Bergeson & Campbell P.C., released a bulletin Oct. 8 that also urged organizations with interests in China to review the draft catalog and assess their business and compliance obligations to avoid...