Reminder: Upcoming DTSC Workshops on Draft Green Chemistry Regulation for Safer Consumer Products

Green Chemistry:

This evening, the California DTSC circulated the following reminder about its upcoming workshops seeking public comment on the Draft Green Chemistry Regulation for Safer Consumer Products.   These should be interesting events, which I plan to report on in a future post.  Stay tuned!

“DTSC: Green Chemistry Initiative 

Your Input is invited on the Draft Regulation for Safer Consumer Products at 2 workshops scheduled for July 7 and July 8, 2010 in Sacramento and via webcast.  Both workshops will be held in the Cal/EPA Building, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, Byron Sher Auditorium during the following times:

July 7, 2010, 8:30 – 12:00 PDT

July 8, 2010, 1:30 – 5 PDT

Participants are also invited to join via webcast at: http://www.calepa.ca.gov/Broadcast/

The workshop agenda, draft regulation and information on additional opportunities for public input are available at:

http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/PollutionPrevention/GreenChemistryInitiative/gc_draft_regs.cfm

California Releases a Draft of the Green Chemistry Regulation for Safer Consumer Products

Green Chemistry Regulation:

On June 23, the lead agency implementing California’s Green Chemistry Initiative, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), published on its website a draft of the Regulation for Safer Consumer Products.  According to the DTSC announcement, the draft will be the subject of two additional informal, half-day public workshops on July 7 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and July 8 from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.  Both workshops will be held in the Cal/EPA Building, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, Byron Sher Auditorium.  Public comments are due by July 15, 2010.

Under the draft regulation, DTSC would create a list of chemicals that are “toxic” and can harm people or the environment. Products containing those chemicals would be prioritized based upon such factors as the volume in commerce, the extent of public exposure and how the product is eventually disposed. Manufacturers of those products would perform an “alternatives assessment” to determine if a viable safer alternative is available.  The draft currently calls for three phases: (1) the prioritization process, during which DTSC would identify and prioritize chemicals of concern and products that contain them; (2) an alternatives assessment conducted by the product manufacturers to identify safer alternatives for those priority products identified in first phase; and (3) DTSC adoption of regulatory measures to address concerns raised by the alternatives selected by manufacturers for implementation and to encourage manufacturers to design safer products.

DTSC has stated that it may revise the draft based on comments received. It would release the revised draft following the July 15 comment deadline. The formal Administrative Procedures Act (APA) rulemaking process will begin with the release of that draft. The APA process calls for public hearings and a 45-day public comment period. DTSC will release specific information about the APA process when the final draft regulation is available for review.

According to DTSC’s announcement, the draft regulation and related documents can be found at:

http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/PollutionPrevention/GreenChemistryInitiative/gc_draft_regs.cfm

I plan to review the draft regulation in further detail and provide additional posts on the draft for interested readers.

EPA Recognizes Recipients of 2010 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards

Green Chemistry:

This past Monday, June 21, at the Ronald Reagan Center in Washington, DC, EPA held the 2010 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards ceremony.   This year’s winners include BASF; The Dow Chemical Company; Merck & Co., Inc.; Codexis, Inc.; Clarke; LS9, Inc.; and James C. Liao, Ph.D.  Additional details regarding the Challenge Awards Program and this year’s winners are provided below.

Background on the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Program

For those readers that are less familiar with the Challenge Awards Program, EPA offers the following description on its website:

“The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Program is an opportunity for individuals, groups, and organizations to compete for annual awards in recognition of innovations in cleaner, cheaper, smarter chemistry. The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Program provides national recognition of outstanding chemical technologies that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture, and use, and that have been or can be utilized by industry in achieving their pollution prevention goals.

The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Program invites nominations that describe the technical benefits of a green chemistry technology as well as human health and environmental benefits. The Awards Program is open to individuals, groups, and nongovernmental organizations, both nonprofit and for profit. The nominated green chemistry technology must have reached a significant milestone within the past five years in the United States (e.g., been researched, demonstrated, implemented, applied, patented, etc.).

Nominations received for the awards are judged by an independent panel of technical experts convened by the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute. Typically five awards are given annually to industry and government sponsors, an academic investigator, and a small business.”

According to EPA, the awards are typically granted in the following five categories:

  • Small Business: A small business* for a green chemistry technology in any of the three focus areas.
  • Academic: An academic investigator for a technology in any of the three focus areas.
  • Focus Area 1: An industry sponsor for a technology that uses greener synthetic pathways.
  • Focus Area 2: An industry sponsor for a technology that uses greener reaction conditions.
  • Focus Area 3: An industry sponsor for a technology that includes the design of greener chemicals.

* A small business is defined here as one with annual sales of less than $40 million, including all domestic and foreign sales by the company, its subsidiaries, and its parent company.

This Year’s Winners by Category

EPA’s website list this year’s winners, a summary of their innovations and their benefits, as well as a podcast overview of each innovation that is narrated by Dr. Richard Engler of EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.  The winners include:

  • Greener Synthetic Pathways Award
    The Dow Chemical Company
    BASF
    Innovative, Environmentally Benign Production of Propylene Oxide via Hydrogen Peroxide (summary / podcast)
  • Greener Reaction Conditions Award
    Merck & Co., Inc.
    Codexis, Inc.
    Greener Manufacturing of Sitagliptin Enabled by an Evolved Transaminase (summary / podcast)
  • Designing Greener Chemicals Award
    Clarke
    NatularTM Larvicide: Adapting Spinosad for Next-Generation Mosquito Control (summary / podcast)
  • Small Business Award
    LS9, Inc.
    Microbial Production of Renewable PetroleumTM Fuels and Chemicals (summary / podcast)
  • Academic Award
    James C. Liao, Ph.D.
    Easel Biotechnologies, LLC
    University of California, Los Angeles
    Recycling Carbon Dioxide to Biosynthesize Higher Alcohols (summary / podcast)

Review of the ABA Conference: "Chemicals Regulation: REACHing for TSCA Reform"

TSCA Reform, Green Chemistry:

Last week, on Friday, June 11, I attended the ABA conference: “Chemicals Regulation:  REACHing for TSCA Reform.”  In my opinion, the conference was a success.  It was well-attended by a range of stakeholders and the speakers’ topics were generally interesting.  Blake Biles did a fantastic job in his opening remarks setting the context in which TSCA was passed in 1976 and the challenges that EPA has faced implementing the statue.  All in all, I think the conference was worth the investment.

The conference provided a brief overview of the Congressional bills to modify TSCA and more detail regarding the role of states in chemicals regulation, the recent green chemistry initiatives, and some of the legal issues that go beyond regulatory compliance.  If anyone would like a copy of the agenda, which includes a biography (of sorts) of supplementary reading material, please let me know.  The suite of conference materials is probably available from the ABA.

I was a little disappointed that the speakers did not cover the mechanics of the new bills in any detail, however.  Presumably this was because they felt that it was premature to do so. In other words, they probably expect the final legislation to differ from what’s currently proposed. Based on what I’m hearing, I would generally agree with that conclusion. However, the recent convergence of chemical industry executives on Capitol Hill suggests that there may be some residual concern about the bills passing this session in something similar to their present form, so more discussion of the mechanics would have been helpful to some attendees, I’m sure.

TSCA CBI – New Practices Adopted at EPA While Further Changes Are Debated in Congress

TSCA, TSCA Reform: 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) continues to be a focal point of the debates over improving implementation of the current version of TSCA, as well as amending the statute.  Here’s a short update on where those debates currently stand.

EPA Adopts New Practices under TSCA

On May 27, 2009, EPA announced in a Federal Register notice that the Agency will begin a “general practice” of reviewing CBI claims for chemical identities in health and safety studies and related data, submitted under TSCA in accordance with EPA regulations at 40 C.F.R. Part 2, Subpart B.  According to the notice, “Section 14(b) of TSCA does not extend confidential treatment to health and safety studies, or data from health and safety studies, which, if made public, would not disclose processes used in the manufacturing or processing of a chemical substance or mixture or, in the case of a mixture, the release of data disclosing the portion of the mixture comprised by any of the chemical substances in the mixture.” If the chemical identity does not clearly reveal mixture portions or process information, EPA is unlikely to find the information eligible for confidential treatment.  EPA will apply its new practice to both newly submitted and existing claims, beginning August 25, 2010. 

Stakeholders supporting or opposing this new practice are likely to submit comments to the Agency in advance of the August implementation.

Congressional Debate over the Bills to Modernize TSCA

Both the Senate and House bills would revise and narrow the protections for CBI.  The bills would require all CBI claims to be justified up front.  EPA would have to review the claims within a prescribed time period.  Only those that withstood the review – applying standards that EPA would adopt within one year of enactment of the legislation – would be eligible for protection.  Approved claims would receive protection for up to five years. 

Similar to the current version of Section 14, the bills would not allow “the release of any data which discloses processes used in the manufacturing or processing of a chemical substance or mixture or, in the case of a mixture, the release of data disclosing the portion of the mixture comprised by any of the chemical substances in the mixture.” Nonetheless, the chemical industry remains concerned about the negative impact the new CBI provisions would have on innovation, jobs, and the U.S. industry’s general competitiveness.   ICIS reports that the CEOs from 30 different chemical companies planned to meet this past Wednesday with 50 different members of Congress or their staff to discuss the bills, and the CBI provisions concerning chemical identities were on the top of their list of concerns. 

* * * *

Watch for future postings as the debates over CBI evolve.

 

Reminder: June 9 California DTSC Symposium on Alternatives Analysis

Green Chemistry:

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is convening a symposium tomorrow on alternatives analysis in Sacramento and via webcast.  The DTSC reminder for the symposium is set out below.

“DTSC: Green Chemistry Initiative

There is still time to join the Department of Toxic Substances Control and the outstanding slate of speakers gathered for Alternatives Analysis Symposium I: Issues and Evolution, Capitalizing on Success tomorrow, June 9, 2010, in Sacramento and via web cast. We will expand the dialogue on the alternatives analysis process for chemicals used in consumer products – a core element of the California Green Chemistry Initiative – and identify opportunities for chemical alternatives analysis through the lens of organizations implementing successful policies and programs.

Presenters include:

Jay Bolus – McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC); Clive Davies – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Design for the Environment (DfE) program Lauren Heine, Ph.D. – Clean Production; Action Libby Sommer – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, DfE program; Alex Stone, Sc.D. – Washington State Department of Ecology; Donald J. Versteeg, Ph.D. – Procter & Gamble.

Join us for any or all in the Byron Sher Auditorium inside the Cal/EPA Headquarters Building or via web cast.  See the agenda, download presentations, register and find web cast information at: http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/PollutionPrevention/GreenChemistryInitiative/Alternative-Analysis-1-Symposium.cfm.”