Posted on November 15, 2013 by Heidi
On Wednesday, November 13, 2013, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on CSIA, a bill to reform TSCA. CSIA was introduced earlier this year by Senator David Vitter (R-LA) and the late Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). Senator Vitter and Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) are now working to move CSIA forward through the legislative process. A Law360 article recently published by Lynn Bergeson contains a detailed discussion of the significance and provisions of this legislation. With 25 bipartisan co-sponsors, CSIA is a "potentially politically viable framework for TSCA reform and renewed hope that badly needed modernization of this ancient law may occur."
The hearing included three panels of nine witnesses and focused on CSIA and potential reform to TSCA. A detailed memorandum on the hearing issued by B&C is available online.
Senators Vitter and Udall are working to address concerns about CSIA raised during a hearing held in July 2013 before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on TSCA reform. The BRAG report on that hearing may be found online.
Posted on November 01, 2013 by Heidi
On October 29, 2013, hundreds of parents and children participated in a "stroller brigade" on Capitol Hill during which they lobbied Senate offices to provide greater protections against harmful chemicals during reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The stroller brigade also joined actress Jennifer Beals at a press conference on TSCA reform sponsored by the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition.
Following the July 31, 2013, Senate Environment and Public Works hearing on TSCA reform, Committee Members reportedly continue negotiations on S. 1009, the bi-partisan TSCA reform bill sponsored by Senator David Vitter (R-LA) and the late Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). The Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group's (BRAG™) previous report on the bill and hearing is available online.
Also on October 29, 2013, the Center for Progressive Reform released a report critical of TSCA and the two current Senate bills designed to reform it, S. 1009 and S. 696, which is sponsored by the late Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). The report, "TSCA Reform: Preserving Tort and Regulatory Approaches," makes several specific recommendations for reform, including making it easier for EPA to obtain toxicity data from chemical manufacturers. A copy of the report is available online.
Posted on November 01, 2013 by Heidi
The number of Significant New Use Rules (SNUR) issued by EPA has greatly increased in recent months, causing long and costly delays for companies trying to market biobased chemicals and products. The Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG™) is holding a workshop to help companies avoid these delays by explaining how, when, and to which entity or entities in the value chain the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) applies, and what a renewable chemical innovator must do to comply with TSCA's requirements.
Getting to Yes: A Focused Workshop Addressing Key Policy, Legislative, and Regulatory Issues in Commercializing Biobased Products
Presented by the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group in conjunction with the Society for the Commercial Development of Industrial Biotechnology
2:30-5:30 p.m., November 11, 2013, at the Chemical Heritage Foundation Center in Philadelphia, PA
Innovation is great, but commercializing innovations is even better. BRAG's Washington, D.C.-based team of government affairs experts, scientists, lawyers, and public policy managers will present a workshop to identify and discuss critical policy, legislative, and regulatory issues impacting the commercialization of renewable chemicals. Attendees will engage in focused discussions on current regulatory issues impacting the market, as well as a robust dialogue on expectations for the evolution of policy considerations from varied players, including those from academia, environmental groups, Capitol Hill, and EPA.
Join us at the beautiful Chemical Heritage Foundation's Library, Museum, and Conference Center in Philadelphia's historic district for this essential workshop prior to the 2nd International SCD-iBIO Commercializing Global Green Forum. For more information and to register click here.
Posted on October 11, 2013 by Heidi
On October 7, 2013, House Committee on Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent a letter to American Chemistry Council (ACC) President Calvin Dooley asking him whether ACC is "abandoning its 2009 principles for reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act." The letter is available online.
In his letter, Representative Waxman tells Dooley that he has been hopeful that reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) would include many of the principles for reform released by ACC in 2009. He alleges that ACC appears to have abandoned six key reform principles and asks Dooley to clarify ACC's current position. In closing, Representative Waxman states that "t would be disappointing and a blow to the chances for successful TSCA reform if the ACC has abandoned its 2009 principles."
ACC has publicly supported S. 1009, the bi-partisan Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA). Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. has issued a section-by-section in-depth analysis of CSIA, which is available online.
Posted on October 04, 2013 by Heidi
The U.S. government is shut down until the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives approve the same version of legislation to fund it and the President then signs it into law. House Republicans have been trying to tie funding the government with defunding certain parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which went into effect on October 1. The Senate has rejected every funding bill sent to it by the House because each has contained provisions to marginalize the ACA. The Senate has also rejected a piecemeal approach to funding the government. This has created a very high stakes game of ping pong between the two chambers of Congress.
Aside from the impact on the entire economy, the government shutdown directly impacts all regulatory and legislative efforts affecting the biofuels and renewable chemicals industries, including work on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). It will almost certainly delay upcoming expected rulemakings, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed rule setting the 2014 renewable volume obligations (RVO) under the RFS. It is reported that nearly 95 percent of EPA's staff has been furloughed during the shutdown, leaving only 17 employees working in EPA's Office of Air and Radiation and three working in the Office of Water.
The shutdown also postpones hearings and other legislative efforts impacting industry, including the hearing scheduled October 3, 2013, before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee on "Advanced Biofuels: Creating Jobs and Lower Prices at the Pump."
Posted on September 27, 2013 by Heidi
If the Continuing Resolution (CR) currently funding the government is allowed to expire on September 30, it could prove devastating to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Unlike other federal agencies, EPA cannot claim exceptions for many of its employees. In the event the CR expires, as EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy asserted in public remarks this week, EPA "would effectively shut down." It would only have skeletal staff and would surely impact Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) work, among others.
This fear about current EPA funding comes at a time when the Republican Members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works sent a letter this week to Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) urging her to move ahead with a hearing on EPA's Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 budget request. EPA requested $8.2 billion for FY 2014, which is 3.5 percent less than 2012 enacted funding levels for the Agency.
Posted on September 19, 2013 by Heidi
On September 18, 2013, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on "Regulation of Existing Chemicals and the Role of Pre-Emption under Sections 6 and 18 of the Toxic Substances Control Act." This was the third hearing in a series held by the Committee on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). It comes at a time when the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) is also considering TSCA reform, including S. 1009, the "Chemical Security Improvement Act" (CSIA). Senate EPW Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has indicated that preemption is an important issue and that she wishes to ensure that any TSCA reform protects state laws, including California's Proposition 65, the state's law regulating unsafe chemicals.
Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) has issued a detailed summary of the hearing, which is available online.
Posted on August 26, 2013 by Heidi
Renewable chemicals are emerging at a fast pace, paving the way for new, innovative, and sustainable biobased products. The renewable chemicals’ market is estimated to reach $83.4 billion by 2018 in applications ranging from transportation and agriculture to textiles and cosmetics. In addition to all the elements great companies need to succeed -- a great product, a great brand, inspiring leadership, and vision -- biobased product companies need to understand how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) occupies a virtual seat at their management table, whether or not they know it.
An article by BRAG in the August 2013 issue of Industrial Biotechnology, available online, lays out the regulatory challenges the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) presents to biobased and renewable chemical products and the rationale behind the formation of BRAG. Through strategic insight into regulatory and legislative issues, collective advocacy on Capitol Hill and before EPA, education and training opportunities, and hands-on guidance from a deep bench of TSCA legal and scientific policy experts, BRAG is removing obstacles to commercialization for its members.
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