In April, EPA published its final Strategic Plan for FY 2014-2018, which includes ensuring chemical safety as a top-level goal and emphasizes the agency’s new paradigm of “Next Generation Compliance.” As proposed in the draft plan released in November, EPA plans to reduce the number of inspections and enforcement actions in order to focus instead […]
Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held its second hearing on the Chemicals in Commerce Act (CICA), introduced by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) as the House’s proposal to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Today’s hearing was based on an updated version of CICA which Rep. Shimkus, who is Chair of the Subcommittee […]
California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has announced a series of Priority Product workshops intended to engage members of the public before official rulemaking for the initial Priority Products begins. Along with the announcement, DTSC released a document on “Priority Products Draft Regulatory Concepts and Topics for Stakeholder Input,” [PDF] to elicit input from […]
As we briefly mentioned yesterday, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) released a new version of his proposal to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Chemicals in Commerce Act (CICA), and announced that another hearing on the bill will be held on Tuesday, April 29. Witnesses have not yet been announced. The changes in the […]
A coalition of Attorneys General from 13 states spoke out last week against the House Republicans’ plan to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The Attorneys General sent a letter [PDF] to the leadership of the House Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy criticizing the Chemicals in Commerce Act (CICA), the proposal introduced by […]
The 100 nanometer (nm) upper limit for defining nanoparticles may be “potentially inappropriate” and does not reflect the “complexity of ecological interactions” with nanoparticles, according to a viewpoint article [PDF] published in Environmental Sciences and Technology and highlighted by ChemicalWatch. According to a team of Chinese and American scientists, threshold sizes for nanoparticles likely exist […]
On Monday, a federal appeals court struck down a rule implementing the Dodd-Frank Act’s requirement that companies disclose whether their products contain conflict materials originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), or adjoining countries. A divided (2-1) panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled [PDF] that the U.S. Securities […]
Last week, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) released a report identifying the high costs of complying with REACH as one of the primary trade barriers affecting American small and medium enterprises (SMEs) seeking to export to the EU. Although SMEs account for as much as 35 percent of U.S. chemicals exports to the EU, […]
California led the way in state-level regulation of chemicals in products, and now, other states are beginning to follow its example. Bills pending in both Massachusetts and Vermont are modeled after California’s Safer Consumer Products (SCP) regulations. In Vermont, the State Senate yesterday voted to approve S. 239, a bill which has provoked controversy in […]
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has adopted its final substance evaluation plan for 2014-2016. This updates the REACH Community Rolling Action Plan (CoRAP) list to contain 120 substances, 51 of which will be evaluated by member states this year. The plan provides that 48 more substances will be evaluated in 2015 and 21 in 2016, […]
