Memoranda

On July 15, 2016, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) announced the release of its proposed regulation on children's foam-padded sleeping products containing tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP) or tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) as a Priority Product (PP) under the Safer Consumer Products Regulations (SCPR). DTSC first released information about this PP on March 13, 2014, so this proposed regulation is a major step in the SCPR process and over...

On July 13, 2016, the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), announced proposed regulations for Oil Spill Response Plans and Information Sharing for High-Hazard Flammable Trains (HHFTs). The rule would expand the comprehensive oil spill response plan requirements under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to certain HHFT trains based on the amount of crude oil being transported....

In our June 29, 2016, Clients and Friends memorandum, Brazil Moves Closer to National Chemical Inventory, The Acta Group (Acta®) discussed Brazil's pending Industrial Chemicals Regulation (Regulação de Substâncias Químicas Industriais, or Regulação) predicting its imminent publication in the Brazilian Official Gazette, the Diário Oficial. On June 30, 2016, the Regulação was released for an approximately 45-day comment period. While generally...

On June 29, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted an Implementation Plan that outlines EPA's plans for early activities and actions under the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, legislation that significantly amends many of the provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The amended TSCA has been identified as Public Law Number (Pub. L. No.) 114-182, and copies are expected to be available from the U.S. Government Publishing...

On October 15, 2015, the Brazilian Ministry of Environment (Ministério do Meio Ambiente, or MME) announced plans to develop a national chemical Inventory (Inventory), with initial legislation expected by December 31, 2015. Due to a sometimes contentious debate between industry and the MME (Authority), the Inventory process had been considerably delayed. In a Brazilian chemical industry forum on June 23, 2016, it was announced that significant progress has been made toward implementing...

EPA Makes Final Revisions To EPCRA Hazard Categories: On June 13, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final revisions to EPCRA Sections 311 and 312 occasioned by changes to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). 81 Fed. Reg. 38104. Under the revised HCS, chemical manufacturers and importers are required to evaluate their chemicals according to the new criteria adopted from the United...

On June 22, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. Later that day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the creation of a web page on the new law, landmark legislation that significantly amends many of the provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA's web page includes links for users to access: The text of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (the Act); ...

On June 22, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg), which makes important changes to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Lautenberg results in fundamental shifts in the requirements and approach under TSCA, while introducing important new concepts and approaches. It is our view that the body of changes, including the careful balancing of competing needs and interests and the deft and assiduous drafting, yield a...

On June 7, 2016, the Senate passed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) by voice vote and sent it to President Obama for signature. As reported in our memorandum, "An Analysis of Key Provisions and Fundamental Shifts in the Amended TSCA," the Act includes new requirements in Sections 4, 5, 6, and 8 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). These new requirements, among others, will need to be met in promulgating currently proposed regulations, as well...

EPA Extends Comment Period On RCRA Corrosive Dust Petition For Six Months: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 10, 2016, extended until December 7, 2016, the comment period on its April 11, 2016 (81 Fed. Reg. 21295) tentative denial of a petition by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) to amend regulations under 40 C.F.R. § 261.22 regarding the definition of corrosive hazardous wastes under the Resource...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on May 24, 2016, that Viatek Consumer Products Group, Inc. and Company owner and President Lou Lentine have agreed to settle FTC charges that they made deceptive claims for Viatek-brand Mosquito Shield Bands. FTC also charged Lentine and Viatek with violating a 2003 administrative order prohibiting Lentine from making product claims without "competent and reliable" evidence to support them. According to the FTC's February 2015...

In preparation for the opening of the reporting period for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2016 Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) conducted a review of recent enforcement actions taken by EPA under the CDR rule. B&C reviewed enforcement action data from May 2007 through September 2014 and found 37 different cases involving an allegation of a violation of the CDR rule. Based on the data collected, B&C highlighted a number of...

As we are poised to witness the reauthorization of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) -- the first revision of our domestic chemical management law in 40 years -- stakeholders will need immediately to understand what the "new TSCA" means for their industrial operations and strategically adjust their global operations to the new law. Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) convened a summit to examine generally the anticipated changes to TSCA, the process and implementation issues that the...

Firm clients and friends with interests in perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and other perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) are likely aware that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to issue by mid-May or so new guidance on safe drinking water levels for these chemicals. As EPA and a handful of states continue to address elevated levels of lead in drinking water, EPA Administrator McCarthy has made clear in various...

On April 11, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a memorandum entitled "Coverage for ZirconizationTM Under 40 CFR Part 433 (Metal Finishing ELG)," which concludes that "wastewater generated by ZirconizationTM or a process that applies a zirconium oxide finish to a metal substrate is subject to the Metal Finishing [Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG)]." Zirconization is the trade name for a process that produces a zirconium oxide conversion on a metal substrate....

On April 22, 2016, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) issued a monograph concluding that cobalt and cobalt compounds that release cobalt ions in vivo are expected to cause human cancer. Specifically, NTP stated that "[t]here is sufficient evidence for the carcinogenicity of cobalt and cobalt compounds that release cobalt ions in vivo (collectively referred to as cobalt) in experimental animals based on increased incidence of malignant and/or a combination of malignant and...

On April 4, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its updated Recommended Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Cadmium -- 2016 under Section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). 81 Fed. Reg. 19176. The updated cadmium criteria recommendations replace the criteria values that EPA last issued in 2001. The CWA directs EPA to develop, publish, and periodically revise the ambient water quality criteria for aquatic life and human health that best reflect...

On March 25, 2016, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) modified its November 27, 2015, proposed rule that would repeal and replace the Proposition 65 (Prop 65) Article 6 regulations covering "clear and reasonable warnings" requirements. OEHHA states that the proposed changes are based on its response to the written comments it received on the proposed rule, and on oral comments provided during a January 13, 2016, public hearing. The modifications...

On March 29, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule exempting manufacturers of six biodiesel chemicals from reporting processing and use information under the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a). 81 Fed. Reg. 17392. In 2014, the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®), managed by Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.'s (B&C®) affiliate, B&C® Consortia Management, L.L.C. (BCCM) filed...

On March 18, 2016, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) announced the appointment of its provisional committee on "Future Biotechnology Products and Opportunities to Enhance Capabilities of the Biotechnology Regulatory System." This study is being commissioned pursuant to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) July 2, 2015, memorandum, "Modernizing the Regulatory System for Biotechnology Products," that states it would "commission an...