All Things Chemical

The bipartisan 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) Amendments enacted extensive changes to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that many hoped would set the law on a new course, address its widely recognized challenges, and accelerate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions to address public health threats. Since then, four administrations have put their mark on implementation of the amended law. The past ten years have seemed like a roller coaster of competing legal interpretations of some of the Lautenberg Amendments' most significant provisions, scientific debate and analyses, rulemakings, delays in meeting TSCA deadlines, and major milestones.

To celebrate Lautenberg's ten-year anniversary, the Environmental Law Institute, the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, and B&C convened an all-day conference: TSCA Reform -- Ten Years Later. The podcast you are about to hear is the panel discussion on whether -- and, if so, how -- TSCA should be amended.

TSCA's fee authorization lapses in about ten weeks and the need for congressional action has invited animated debate over whether broader legislative action is warranted. Discussion drafts outlining legislative reforms are circulating, and stakeholders are sharply divided over whether legislative intervention is needed at all, let alone on how best to modify TSCA yet again. This panel explored these issues.

ALL MATERIALS IN THIS PODCAST ARE PROVIDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. THE MATERIALS ARE NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES. ALL LEGAL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED DIRECTLY BY A LICENSED ATTORNEY PRACTICING IN THE APPLICABLE AREA OF LAW.

©2026 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. All Rights Reserved

The bipartisan 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) Amendments enacted extensive changes to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that many hoped would set the law on a new course, address its widely recognized challenges, and accelerate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions to address public health threats. Since then, four administrations have put their mark on implementation of the amended law. The past ten years have seemed like a roller coaster of competing legal interpretations of some of the Lautenberg Amendments' most significant provisions, scientific debate and analyses, rulemakings, delays in meeting TSCA deadlines, and major milestones.

To celebrate Lautenberg's ten-year anniversary, the Environmental Law Institute, the George Washington Milken Institute School of Public Health, and B&C convened an all-day conference: TSCA Reform -- Ten Years Later. The podcast you are about to hear is the panel discussion on ten years of Lautenberg: where are we?

Unsurprisingly, views vary widely on whether we are on the right track in achieving Congress's goals, whether amending TSCA was successful, whether EPA's efforts over the past decade are achieving the law's public health goals, and whether, as we look back ten years, we need to reimagine our core approach to chemical regulation or stay the course. This discussion includes diverse stakeholders steeped in TSCA debating these questions.

ALL MATERIALS IN THIS PODCAST ARE PROVIDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. THE MATERIALS ARE NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES. ALL LEGAL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED DIRECTLY BY A LICENSED ATTORNEY PRACTICING IN THE APPLICABLE AREA OF LAW.

©2026 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. All Rights Reserved

The bipartisan 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) Amendments enacted extensive changes to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that many hoped would set the law on a new course, address its widely recognized challenges, and accelerate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions to address public health threats. Since then, four administrations have put their mark on implementation of the amended law. The past ten years have seemed like a roller coaster of competing legal interpretations of some of the Lautenberg Amendments' most significant provisions, scientific debate and analyses, rulemakings, delays in meeting TSCA deadlines, and major milestones.

To celebrate Lautenberg's ten-year anniversary, the Environmental Law Institute, the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, and B&C convened an all-day conference: TSCA Reform -- Ten Years Later. The podcast you are about to hear is the keynote address from the conference. It features Dr. Lynn R. Goldman, former Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances at EPA and Dean Emerita at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, speaking with former Senator Tom Udall, a key advocate of Lautenberg, and Bonnie Lautenberg, the spouse of former Senator Frank R. Lautenberg. Many credit Lautenberg's passage in no small part to Bonnie's extraordinary advocacy.

ALL MATERIALS IN THIS PODCAST ARE PROVIDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. THE MATERIALS ARE NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES. ALL LEGAL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED DIRECTLY BY A LICENSED ATTORNEY PRACTICING IN THE APPLICABLE AREA OF LAW.

©2026 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. All Rights Reserved

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Karen R. Harned, Director of Litigation and Legal Policy for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), to discuss the hot off the press decision in National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors v. Feldon, the federal challenge to Oregon's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law. We discuss NAW's mission, the role of NAW's Legal Policy Center, which Karen, as Director of Litigation and Legal Policy, leads, the reasons NAW sued the state of Oregon, and what Judge Michael H. Simon determined in his ruling of August 27, 2026.

ALL MATERIALS IN THIS PODCAST ARE PROVIDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. THE MATERIALS ARE NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES. ALL LEGAL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED DIRECTLY BY A LICENSED ATTORNEY PRACTICING IN THE APPLICABLE AREA OF LAW.

©2026 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. All Rights Reserved

The bipartisan 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) Amendments enacted extensive changes to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that many hoped would set the law on a new course, address its widely recognized challenges, and accelerate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions to address public health threats. Since then, four administrations have put their mark on implementation of the amended law. The past ten years have seemed like a roller coaster of competing legal interpretations of some of the Lautenberg Amendments' most significant provisions, scientific debate and analyses, rulemakings, delays in meeting TSCA deadlines, and major milestones.

To celebrate Lautenberg's ten-year anniversary, the Environmental Law Institute, the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, and B&C convened an all-day conference: TSCA Reform -- Ten Years Later. The podcast you are about to hear is the panel discussion on new chemical review.

Questions over EPA's implementation of the Lautenberg Amendments to TSCA Section 5 new chemical review rose quickly and have not abated. Spirited debate continues over how well the program is working, what challenges persist, and what changes may be needed to improve and hasten new chemical review. Environmental advocates have questioned whether the program is doing enough to ensure that new chemicals are safe. This panel discussion explores the reasons underlying the debate over the long-term impacts of decisions on new chemicals, if there is a need to "fix" the program and what that would mean, how "reasonably foreseen" future conditions of use are identified and addressed in the new chemical review process, the impacts of significant new use rules, and the role pre-manufacture review of new chemicals plays in protecting public health and effects on innovation and safer chemicals, among other key issues.

ALL MATERIALS IN THIS PODCAST ARE PROVIDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. THE MATERIALS ARE NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES. ALL LEGAL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED DIRECTLY BY A LICENSED ATTORNEY PRACTICING IN THE APPLICABLE AREA OF LAW.

©2026 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. All Rights Reserved

The bipartisan 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) Amendments enacted extensive changes to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that many hoped would set the law on a new course, address its widely recognized challenges, and accelerate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions to address public health threats. Since then, four administrations have put their mark on implementation of the amended law. The past ten years have seemed like a roller coaster of competing legal interpretations of some of the Lautenberg Amendments' most significant provisions, scientific debate and analyses, rulemakings, delays in meeting TSCA deadlines, and major milestones. To celebrate Lautenberg's ten-year anniversary, the Environmental Law Institute, the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, and B&C convened an all-day conference: TSCA Reform -- Ten Years Later. The podcast you are about to hear is the panel discussion on risk management.

This panel focuses on the past, present, and future of risk management under TSCA. With all five final risk management rules in litigation, a debate is underway over whether these rules go too far or not far enough and how much risk reduction we can expect in future rules. The panel also explores what can be learned to date from the pending cases and speculate on how the courts and EPA may reshape future TSCA Section 6 rulemakings. The panel will address recurring policy and legal issues, such as the role of Section 6 in assuring workplace protection and addressing environmental releases from facilities, as well as how EPA can keep pace with TSCA's statutory deadlines for proposed and final rules.

ALL MATERIALS IN THIS PODCAST ARE PROVIDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. THE MATERIALS ARE NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES. ALL LEGAL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED DIRECTLY BY A LICENSED ATTORNEY PRACTICING IN THE APPLICABLE AREA OF LAW.

©2026 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. All Rights Reserved

The bipartisan 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) Amendments enacted extensive changes to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that many hoped would set the law on a new course, address its widely recognized challenges, and accelerate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions to address public health threats. Since then, four administrations have put their mark on implementation of the amended law. The past ten years have seemed like a roller coaster of competing legal interpretations of some of the Lautenberg Amendments' most significant provisions, scientific debate and analyses, rulemakings, delays in meeting TSCA deadlines, and major milestones. To celebrate Lautenberg's ten-year anniversary, the Environmental Law Institute, the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, and B&C convened an all-day conference: TSCA Reform -- Ten Years Later. The podcast you are about to hear is the panel discussion on risk evaluation.

This panel discussion focuses on EPA's most recent risk evaluations and how they compare with prior administrations' risk evaluation approaches, recent changes in direction of the controversial formaldehyde risk evaluation, and on EPA's proposed Risk Evaluation Framework Rule and its implications for protecting human health. Now, here is the panel discussion on risk evaluation from TSCA Reform -- Ten Years Later.

ALL MATERIALS IN THIS PODCAST ARE PROVIDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. THE MATERIALS ARE NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES. ALL LEGAL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED DIRECTLY BY A LICENSED ATTORNEY PRACTICING IN THE APPLICABLE AREA OF LAW.

©2026 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. All Rights Reserved

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with my colleague, Carla N. Hutton, Senior Regulatory Analyst for B&C, to discuss recent developments in state PFAS regulation. Carla and I visited a few months ago, but there have been so many recent developments, we thought we needed to visit again to ensure our listeners are well informed. We discuss what is new with PFAS reporting and labeling under the New Mexico PFAS Protection Act. New guidance is welcome, as there has been a lack of clarity regarding the scope of the labeling requirement. We discuss the litigation underway in New Mexico challenging the regulations. We also discuss some fast-approaching deadlines pertinent to PFAS reporting in Minnesota that you will want to understand.

ALL MATERIALS IN THIS PODCAST ARE PROVIDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. THE MATERIALS ARE NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES. ALL LEGAL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED DIRECTLY BY A LICENSED ATTORNEY PRACTICING IN THE APPLICABLE AREA OF LAW.

©2026 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. All Rights Reserved

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Susanna W. Blair, Senior Director of Regulatory and Technical Affairs for the Consumer Brands Association (CBA), which represents the interests of the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) community. Having left the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after a distinguished career as a senior scientist and policy expert, Dr. Blair is putting her science policy chops to good use at CBA. We discuss CBA's mission, its focus on food and beverage ingredients, how Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) advocacy has impacted CBA, the Association's focus on the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) framework, among other priority projects CBA is pursuing, and much more.

ALL MATERIALS IN THIS PODCAST ARE PROVIDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. THE MATERIALS ARE NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES. ALL LEGAL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED DIRECTLY BY A LICENSED ATTORNEY PRACTICING IN THE APPLICABLE AREA OF LAW.

©2026 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. All Rights Reserved

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with my new colleague, Richard J. Fehir, Ph.D., Senior Chemist/Regulatory Scientist, at B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group (Acta®), to discuss his career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and how he is now deploying his considerable scientific chops at B&C and Acta. Rick is a bit unusual, as he has worked for both EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) and Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), which is a very opportune combination for our clients!

ALL MATERIALS IN THIS PODCAST ARE PROVIDED SOLELY FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. THE MATERIALS ARE NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE OR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES. ALL LEGAL QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED DIRECTLY BY A LICENSED ATTORNEY PRACTICING IN THE APPLICABLE AREA OF LAW.

©2026 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. All Rights Reserved