On November 7, 2023, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the District Court for the Eastern District of California’s (District Court) June 22, 2020, decision granting summary judgment in favor of Plaintiffs. The Ninth Circuit entered a permanent injunction enjoining the California Attorney General from enforcing Proposition 65’s (Prop 65) carcinogen warning requirement for the herbicide glyphosate. National Ass’n of Wheat Growers et al. v. Bonta (Opinion).The Ninth Circuit found that...
November 13, 2023
Defra Publishes Policy Paper on UK REACH Alternative Transitional Registration Model
On November 9, 2023, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published a policy paper on a UK Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) alternative transitional registration model (ATRm). According to Defra, in response to concerns raised by the chemicals industry about the significant cost to businesses of accessing European Union (EU) data packages to support UK REACH transitional registrations, Defra has been exploring options with the...
November 8, 2023
Lynn L. Bergeson, “Reporting PFAS: reporting burden is the least of businesses’ worries,” Financier Worldwide, December 2023.
Ask just about anyone doing business in the US making or importing products that contain chemicals what they think about the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) new per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) reporting rule, and you will get a decidedly grumpy response. Granted, no businessperson welcomes any new chemical reporting obligation, but by any standard, the EPA’s 11 October 2023 final PFAS reporting rule is problematic and is inviting uniquely scathing criticism....
On October 27, 2023, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a notice proposing changes to its Proposition 65 (Prop 65) Article 6 “clear and reasonable warnings” regulations for “short-form” warnings (Notice). OEHHA first proposed changes to the short-form warning requirements on January 8, 2021, with modifications proposed on December 13, 2021, and April 5, 2022. Industry was harshly critical of OEHHA’s proposal in written comments and during a...
On September 26, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested comment on a proposed framework to strengthen the assessment of antimicrobial-resistance risks associated with pesticide use. EPA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), under the oversight of the White House Executive Office of the President, have published a concept note. EPA states that the concept note is the first step in creating the framework to...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on October 31, 2023, to ban all uses of trichloroethylene (TCE) after determining that it presents an unreasonable risk of injury to human health under its conditions of use as documented in EPA’s November 2020 risk evaluation (2020 TCE RE) and January 2023 revised risk determination (2023 Revised RD) pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 88 Fed. Reg. 74712. According to EPA’s October 23, 2023, press release, TCE is...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 19, 2023, a proposed rule that would amend the procedural framework rule for conducting risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2023, the proposed rule states that the purpose of risk evaluations under TSCA is to determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, without considering costs or...
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on September 27, 2023, that it carried out two campaigns during 2021-2023 to remind companies of their obligation to keep their Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) registrations up to date. According to ECHA, 57 of the 689 screened registrations, from 50 companies in 11 European Union (EU) member states, are still in breach of the update requirements under REACH Article 22. ECHA states that it reported these...
Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and The Acta Group (Acta®) are pleased to announce that Catherine M. Croke, DBA, Director of Product Stewardship and Regulatory Affairs, has been elected to serve on the Product Stewardship Society’s (PSS) Board of Directors for the 2023 – 2026 term. PSS President Lisa Marie Nespoli, CPPS, said of the newly elected directors: “These accomplished figures have earned recognition as leaders in product stewardship, and we are eager to tap into their...
Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and The Acta Group (Acta®) are pleased to share that Lynn L. Bergeson will present during the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources’ (SEER) Pesticides and Chemicals Committee’s “Careers in Chemicals” webinar on October 20, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. (EDT). This event will feature a panel of experienced attorneys who will discuss their legal careers, why they focus their practice on chemical...