SKIP TO CONTENT
As reported in our April 11, 2013, memorandum, on April 10, 2013, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) reintroduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2013 (S. 696) (SCA 2013), which would reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Senator Lautenberg's press release noted that the bill is identical to the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 (S. 847) (SCA 2011), which was reported favorably out of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on a party-line vote in the 112th Congress on July 25,...
The European Commission (EC) published Regulation 348/2013 on April 17, 2013, that adds eight substances to Annex XIV of EU Regulation 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), commonly referred to as the Authorization List. The notice can be found online. The substances are: Chemical NameCAS NumberEC NumberLast Application DateSunset...
The April 26, 2013, edition of USA Today featured commentary from Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. Managing Partner Lynn L. Bergeson regarding the release this week by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Current Intelligence Bulletin (CIB) 65 Occupational Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes and Nanofibers: “The industry has been extremely cautious and set high standards for itself, says Lynn Bergeson, who works with the NanoBusiness Commercialization Association, an...
Timothy D. Backstrom was quoted in the April 26, 2013 issue of Pesticide & Chemical Policy: “ ‘This ruling is important for EPA and industry because it disciplines potential plaintiffs into making their allegations about failure to consult in conjunction with a specific registration action, rather than some general notion EPA has ongoing discretionary control over pesticide registrations,’ says Timothy Backstrom, an attorney in the D.C. office of Bergeson &...
In a decision with enormous implications for pesticide registrants, on April 22, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed a complaint in Center for Biological Diversity, et al. v. EPA, a case often referred to as the "Mega-ESA" case. In this suit, the plaintiffs asserted that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) improperly failed to initiate or to reinitiate consultation under Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7(a)(2) for 382...
On April 18, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed significant new use rules (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for eight chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN) P-11-327, P-11-328, P-11-329, P-11-330, P-11-331, P-11-332, P-12-298, and P-12-299, the first six of which are renewable, biobased chemical substances manufactured by KiOR, Inc. This memorandum explains why the proposed SNURs for the biobased chemical...
April 22, 2013
AChN Featured in Inside EPA Article “Industry Urging EPA to Drop TSCA Enforcement Over Chemical ‘Fractions'”
“The newly formed Alliance for Chemical Nomenclature (AChN), is comprised of manufacturers and users of fractioned substances as well as manufacturers and users of unknown, variable, complex, or biological substances (UVCBs), who could potentially be affected by EPA enforcement actions now targeting a growing number of companies for alleged reporting violations, according to a March 11 blog post by Kathleen Roberts of B&C Consortia Management, L.L.C., which is affiliated with the corporate...
On April 17, 2013, the United Kingdom's (UK) Department for Business, Innovation and Skills launched a public consultation on the implementation of the recast Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. The consultation focuses on how the government should amend the existing WEEE regulations to ensure compliance with the recast WEEE Directive published on July 24, 2012, and on how to respond to concerns from UK producers of electrical and electronic equipment under the...
In its April 30, 2012, publication, FY 2013 Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) National Program Manager (NPM) Guidance, OECA discusses its enforcement objectives and program priorities for fiscal year (FY) 2013. In discussing notable changes for FY 2013 from FY 2012, OECA lists budget challenges and states that it must cut resources in certain areas: "Anticipating tight budgets in FY 2013 and beyond, EPA's enforcement program needs to focus its limited resources...
On April 10, 2013, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) released what many believe to be the last revisions to the proposed Safer Consumer Products Regulations (Revised Proposed Regulations). The Revised Proposed Regulations are subject to a 15-day comment period, ending April 25, 2013. Memoranda providing background information are available online. The Revised Proposed Regulations are available online. In summary, DTSC has not made many...