All Knowledge & Insights By Date

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on March 15, 2023, that it released its Regulatory Strategy for Flame Retardants, identifying aromatic brominated flame retardants as candidates for a European Union (EU)-wide restriction. ECHA states that aromatic brominated flame retardants, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, are generally persistent in the environment, and that many, like decabromodiphenylether, are...

On March 17, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released additional data related to the proposed risk management rule for chrysotile asbestos for public comment. 88 Fed. Reg. 16389. According to EPA’s March 16, 2023, press release, these data concern chrysotile asbestos diaphragms used in the chlor-alkali industry and chrysotile asbestos-containing sheet gaskets used in chemical production. EPA states that it may use the data in the development of the final rule,...

On March 14, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held the first of two public listening sessions to receive individual input related to concerns about potential liability under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). According to EPA’s March 2, 2023, press release, EPA will review and consider the input received in drafting a “CERCLA per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) enforcement discretion and settlement policy to the...

On March 14, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will propose the first-ever national drinking water standard for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the latest action under EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap. The proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) would regulate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) as individual contaminants and will regulate four other PFAS --...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on March 8, 2023, the results of the Enforcement Forum’s European Union (EU)-wide project on inspections of Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) authorization duties. During the project, the enforcement authorities of 28 countries carried out 690 inspections at 516 companies. According to ECHA, the most commonly controlled substances of very high concern (SVHC) were chromium trioxide and strontium chromate....

The Acta Group (Acta®) affiliate Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) is pleased to announce that Managing Partner Lynn L. Bergeson and Regulatory Analyst Carla N. Hutton have been recognized in the 2023 JD Supra Readers Choice Awards as top authors in the Environment section. This is Ms. Bergeson’s seventh Readers Choice award, which recognizes the most-read and -shared articles posted on JD Supra, a legal news service, and Ms. Hutton’s first. B&C’s monthly “Wrap-Up of...

On February 28, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) New Chemicals Program held the third and final webinar in its series on EPA’s process for assessing the potential risks of new chemicals under Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the types of data EPA considers in this assessment. The webinar covered commonly missed information in Section 5 submissions and how EPA evaluates environmental release information for operations that occur at non-submitter...

On February 28, 2023, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that it updated its recommendations to improve Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) registrations. According to ECHA, the recommendations are based on ECHA’s findings from registration dossier compliance checks and take recent changes to REACH information requirements into account. The recommendations focus on the rules for using adaptations to assess the safety of chemicals without...

On February 27, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of and solicited public comment on two draft documents that are being submitted to the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) for peer review: “Draft Proposed Principles of Cumulative Risk Assessment under the Toxic Substances Control Act” (draft proposed principles) and “Draft Proposed Approach for Cumulative Risk Assessment of High-Priority Phthalates and a Manufacturer-Requested...

The Acta Group (Acta®) affiliate Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) has launched the PFAS News and Information web page. Continuing B&C’s tradition of providing reliable information and analysis of the most pressing chemical issues of the day, this web page provides constantly updated resources to help those in the chemicals and chemical products industries understand what they need to know about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) developments and what it means to...