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The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published on May 3, 2023, the Question and Answer (Q&A) document following the April 5, 2023, online information session on the proposal to restrict more than 10,000 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. As reported in our April 7, 2023, memorandum, national authorities of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden submitted the proposal...
On April 24, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a virtual public preparatory meeting for the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) members, ad hoc reviewers, and the public to comment on and ask questions regarding the scope and clarity of the draft charge questions to be used for the May 8-11, 2023, review of two draft documents related to cumulative risk assessment (CRA) under the Toxic Substances Control Act...
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on April 12, 2023, that it has recommended that the EC add the following substances to the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Authorisation List: Ethylenediamine; 2-(4-Tertbutylbenzyl)propionaldehyde and its individual stereoisomers; Lead; Glutaral; 2-Methyl-1-(4-methylthiophenyl)-2-morpholinopropan-1-one; 2-Benzyl-2-dimethylamino-4′-morpholinobutyrophenone; Diisohexyl phthalate; and Orthoboric acid,...
On May 2, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of the Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution (Draft Strategy) for public comment. 88 Fed. Reg. 27502. EPA states in its April 21, 2023, press release that the Draft Strategy includes “ambitious actions to eliminate the release of plastic and other waste from land-based sources into the environment by 2040.” EPA released the Draft Strategy...
May 1, 2023
Lynn L. Bergeson, “TSCA litigation: The case to watch,” Speciality Chemicals Magazine, May/June 2023.
The implementation of the game-changing 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, amending the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), is now a hotbed of legal dispute. Lawsuits challenging key aspects of the law’s implementation are piling up. While all are legally noteworthy, one citizen enforcement case in particular merits attention. As discussed below, two recent cases have raised novel issues pertinent to the scope of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s...
May 1, 2023
Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Can Lead or Get Out of the Way,” The Environmental Forum, May/June 2023.
A major task we face in achieving circularity is ensuring that policies remain nimble in addressing environmental and public health challenges. Our suite of laws and their regulatory implementation sometimes reflect an unhelpful resistance to circularity, expressed in policies that are indifferent or antithetical to an efficient transition to true resource economy....
On April 27, 2023, Chemical Watch quoted Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, The Acta Group (Acta®), regarding the proposed TSCA risk management rule that would ban all consumer uses and most commercial applications of methylene chloride. For ten continuing uses, the agency outlined a new workplace chemical protection programme (WCPP) requiring adherence to exposure limits well below those set by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health...
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The European Commission (EC) has published a report entitled Supporting the Commission in Developing an Essential Use Concept. The report presents the outcome of a project to support the EC to define further the essential use concept and associated criteria to help phase out the most harmful chemicals. According to the abstract, the report investigates how the essential use concept could be implemented in European...
Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) and The Acta Group (Acta®) are pleased to announce that Director of Chemistry Richard E. Engler, Ph.D. will present during the National Association of Chemical Distributors’ (NACD) “IRS Issues Proposed Superfund Chemical Excise Tax Regulations -- What Now, What is Next?” webinar. In late March, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued long-awaited proposed Superfund (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or...
On April 20, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of a proposed rule under Section 6(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that would prohibit most uses of methylene chloride. EPA states that its unreasonable risk determination for methylene chloride was driven by risks associated with workers, occupational non-users (ONU), consumers, and those in close proximity to a consumer use. EPA identified risks for adverse human health effects,...