At a recent meeting of the Competent Authorities for REACH and CLP (Caracal), member states, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), and industry agreed on steps to improve interactions between registrants and member state competent authorities (MSCAs) during the REACH substance evaluation process. Chemical Watch reported last week that a working group presented a paper making […]
On November 20, EPA released its Draft Guidelines for federal government procurement of greener products. Because the federal government purchases more than $500 billion per year in goods and services, changes in federal procurement policy can have broad ripple effects for product manufacturers and markets. The Draft Guidelines were formulated with the General Services Administration […]
Although there has been no reported progress on Senate attempts to amend the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA) since last month’s update, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) weighed in last week with confidence that legislation to reform the United States’ outdated Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) could pass before the 2014 elections. ACC President Cal […]
Last month, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled on a relatively rare Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) enforcement case, ordering Elementis Chromium to pay a $2.57 million penalty for violating TSCA § 8(e), a provision of the law that required the company to disclose information about serious health risks. The ALJ found that Elementis Chromium, […]
In one week in November, the House of Representatives voted to pass three energy bills (H.R. 2728, H.R. 1900, and H.R. 1965) simultaneously introduced by House Republicans to facilitate oil and gas development. Notably, Rep. Bill Flores’ (R-TX) bill, H.R. 2728, would block the Department of the Interior (DOI) from regulating hydraulic fracturing, known as “fracking,” […]
Scientists representing both sides of the Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) debate have agreed that thresholds for activity of EDCs may not exist. The conclusion is one of several reached during a recent meeting hosted by European Union (EU) chief scientific advisor Anne Glover in an attempt to identify areas of consensus and disagreement on the […]
Last week, U.S. and European Union (EU) negotiators held a second round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) discussions. During the week-long talks, negotiators examined how to reduce regulatory and industry costs for chemicals. According to U.S. TTIP chief negotiator Dan Mullaney, a range of tools are available to reduce costs for chemicals and […]
As we reported last week, the House Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a hearing to review the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (S. 1009) (CSIA) on November 13, 2013. At the hearing, EPA for the first time revealed its views on a number of CSIA provisions, although it has not developed a formal position […]
California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is currently accepting applications to serve on the Green Ribbon Science Panel. Members of the Panel come from both the private and public sectors and are experts in a variety of fields, including chemistry, public health, risk analysis, and materials science. The Panel draws on its scientific and […]
Congress continues to make progress in addressing concerns about the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA), with one congressional aide close to the process telling ChemicalWatch last week that “all the concerns and issues are solvable.” However, industry and NGO sources say the remaining issues that need to be dealt with make it unlikely that the […]
