All Things Chemical

This week I sat down with Karin F. Baron, Senior Regulatory Consultant at B&C and our consulting affiliate, The Acta Group. We tackle the daunting topic of combustible dust, a common workplace hazard that is more pervasive perhaps than people think. Combustible dust poses an explosion hazard in a wide variety of industries, including food, plastic, wood, and textiles, among many others. Karin helps us understand what combustible dust includes and then walks us through the somewhat complicated governance frameworks that have emerged among the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), private standard-setting organizations, and the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The space is crowded and remarkably unclear, especially given the severity of the incidents that have occurred over the years.

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.

©2021 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.  All Rights Reserved

This week I sat down with Dr. Richard E. Engler, B&C’s and The Acta Group’s (our consulting affiliate) Director of Chemistry, to discuss a very new component on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) PFAS Action Plan. The plan represents EPA’s “all of agency” approach to address the risks posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that can accumulate in humans and remain in the body for long periods. PFAS have been widely used in many consumer articles for years, and the action plan represents the totality of EPA’s actions to identify areas of risk and steps to address risks to human health and the environment.

EPA recently proposed a PFAS reporting rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that would compel the submission of certain information on some 1,000 listed PFAS chemicals. The proposal is controversial because of how it defines this class of chemicals, the standard of knowledge that triggers reporting, and the types of entities subject to the reporting requirements. Rich Engler helps us understand what these issues are and why you should care.

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.

©2021 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. All Rights Reserved

This week, I sat down with Bruce Jarnot, Ph.D., DABT®, Senior Manager, Product Compliance, at Assent Compliance. Bruce is a board-certified industrial toxicologist with much experience assisting businesses with chemical product compliance. I have known Bruce for years, but over the past several months, Bruce and I have spoken often about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and certain new rules that apply to manufacturers of finished goods, called “articles” under TSCA. Several rules issued in final this year or proposed apply to importers of finished goods and other downstream entities. A proposed reporting rule issued in June would apply to small businesses, a cohort historically exempt from TSCA reporting requirements. We discuss these rules and their significant commercial impacts, and we speculate on whether these broad reporting requirements are the new normal under new TSCA.

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.

©2021 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.  All Rights Reserved

This week, I sat down with Meglena Mihova, Managing Partner, EPPA, the Brussels-based premier consultancy on matters involving key business sectors, including chemicals and chemical regulation. Meglena is expert on all matters involving the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the complex relationships between and among ECHA, European Union (EU) member states, the European Commission, and other stakeholders. Meglena chairs the Environment Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, which is the leading U.S. business representation body in the EU. We cover a lot of territory, including amendments to the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulations, the EU Green Deal, the chemicals strategy for sustainability under the EU Green Deal, and the regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and microplastics.

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.

©2021 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.  All Rights Reserved

This week, I sat down with Heather J. Blankinship, Senior Manager with B&C Consortia Management, a Bergeson & Campbell affiliate, and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., B&C’s Director of Chemistry, to discuss chemical testing under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  Since Congress amended TSCA in 2016, EPA has been slowly ratcheting up required chemical testing under TSCA Section 4.  Congress gave EPA expanded testing authority under the 2016 Amendments, and EPA is exercising its new authority to compel chemical data production.  These test orders authorize EPA to demand the production of new test data by the manufacturers and sometimes processors of the chemical substances at issue.  Transactionally, this means competitors in the marketplace band together to generate the data EPA seeks.  We discuss the reality of quickly forming these consortia and the business and scientific challenges consortia managers face in complying with these federally enforceable test orders.  It is not as easy as you may think!

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.

©2021 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.  All Rights Reserved

This week, I sat down with Brenna Finn, Assistant Attorney General, Colorado Department of Law.  I am proud to report that Brenna was a law intern here at the firm years ago, as Brenna began her legal career, and pleased to report that her experience with the firm focused her career, in part, on chemical regulation.  Brenna’s substantive skills in Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regulation have served her well in private practice and prepared her for her current position with the State of Colorado Attorney General’s office, where Brenna heads up the Agricultural Unit in the Business & Licensing Section of the Colorado Department of Law.  Brenna enforces the Department’s pesticide registration and application laws, among other responsibilities.  Brenna is also an adjunct law professor at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, where she teaches Food and Pesticide Regulation.  After briefly summarizing Brenna’s successful career, we discuss Colorado’s regulation of pesticides used on cannabis and the key enforcement issues on which Brenna’s unit focuses.  We also review other enforcement priorities in the state, as Colorado grows many crops in addition to cannabis.

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.

©2021 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.  All Rights Reserved

This week, I sat down with Scott J. Burya, Ph.D., a regulatory chemist with B&C and our affiliated consulting firm, The Acta Group.  Scott works extensively in the food contact area and other areas involving Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) regulatory matters.  We discuss how U.S. regulatory professionals working in the all-important food contact space can leverage a European Union (EU) measure applicable to plastic food contact materials and articles.  The Plastics Implementing Measure, or PIM, includes, among other features, a list of more than 1,000 chemical substances and specific migration levels.  Scott describes the EU measure and its strengths and perceived deficits, and discusses how U.S. regulatory professionals in this space can leverage the PIM and the specific migration limits in other regulatory contexts here in the United States and elsewhere.

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.

©2021 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.  All Rights Reserved

This week, I sat down with Daniella Taveau, a Regulatory and Global Trade Strategist and the founder of Bold Text Strategies.  As a former International Trade Negotiator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Daniella represented the United States in all U.S. Free Trade Agreements and before the World Trade Organization, the United Nations (U.N.) Food and Agriculture Organization, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.  Daniella also served as an International Policy Analyst with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Given Daniella’s rich background on global trade issues, we discussed the incoming Biden Administration’s approach to trade, what the Biden Trade Plan might include, what chemical and pesticide companies might expect in the months ahead, and what some of the key differences are between the new Administration’s approach to trade and the former Administration’s trade strategy.

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.

©2021 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.  All Rights Reserved

This week I sat down with Karin Baron, Senior Regulatory Consultant to B&C and our affiliated consultancy, The Acta Group, to discuss the European Union’s (EU) Commission Regulation issued last June relating to the completion of safety data sheets (SDS).  As listeners know, SDSs are critically important commercial documents that describe the hazards identified with a particular chemical product or mixture as it makes  its way in commerce.  While this is an EU rule, Karin explains why the new regulation has important consequences for U.S. businesses.

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.

©2021 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.  All Rights Reserved

This week, I sat down with Dr. Jane Vergnes, Director of Toxicology and Vice President, Scientific Affairs, here at B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group (Acta®), and Dr. Richard Engler, Director of Chemistry, at B&C and Acta.  We discussed the provocative question “is everything carcinogenic?”  In asking this question, Jane and Rich discuss the marketing and labeling implications of a cancer classification for a chemical substance found as an ingredient in a consumer or industrial product.  In today’s “informed consumer” market, product manufacturers are challenged as never before to contextualize the significance of a cancer classification or other hazard characteristic.  If Proposition 65 has taught us anything, it is that “over” warning dilutes the significance of important product information and dulls consumer awareness of information that could be communicated more meaningfully.

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.

©2021 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.  All Rights Reserved