On May 30, 2018, in response to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s July 2017 and March 2018 orders, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule revising the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA relied upon Section 553 of the […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved final consent orders against four paint companies — Benjamin Moore & Co., Inc., ICP Construction Inc., YOLO Colorhouse, LLC, and Imperial Paints, LLC — that allegedly misled consumers by claiming their products were free of emissions and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To clarify to industry that these orders represent […]
On May 9, EPA Administrator Pruitt released a memorandum to Assistant Administrators titled “Back to Basics Process for Reviewing National Ambient Air Quality Standards” (NAAQS). Key provisions include: 1. Meeting statutory deadlines. The Administrator has ordered completion of the pending review of the ozone NAAQS by October 2020 and of the pending PM NAAQS review […]
EPA has substantively updated the General Labeling Requirements, Precautionary Statements, and Net Contents/Net Weight Chapters of the Pesticide Label Review Manual, and made minor editorial changes throughout the rest of the manual. This manual is designed to help industry understand the pesticide labeling process and how labels should be drafted under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, […]
On April 24, 2018, EPA released for public comment a supplemental analysis on the definitions of small business size and their effect on Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) user fee collection. In the proposed fees rule EPA released in February, small businesses can quality for reduced fee amounts. For the supplemental analysis, EPA requested comment […]
Under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Reset Rule, manufacturers and importers were required to report all chemical substances that were active in commerce in the ten year “look-back period” ending June 21, 2016. Based on the information it received, the EPA published a draft version of the TSCA Inventory […]
EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) has now completed its review of the agency’s draft Policy Assessment (PA) for the SO2 NAAQS, and supports the EPA staff recommendation that the current scientific literature does not support revision of the current primary (health based) SO2 NAAQS. In a draft letter recently released, CASAC notes that […]
On March 13, 2018, EPA released three draft guidance documents for public comment clarifying the circumstances under which EPA may disclose TSCA confidential business information (CBI) with an expanded set of people. Comments will be accepted until April 16, 2018. Amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) expanded the categories of people who may […]
On March 6, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit or Court) issued an unsigned per curiam opinion revising its July 2017 decision, which struck down portions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2015 Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) Rule. American Petroleum Institute v. EPA, D.C. Cir. […]
On March 16, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) proposed adding hazardous waste aerosol cans to the universal waste program under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations. Comments are due by April 16, 2018. Aerosol cans are widely used for dispensing a broad range of products including paints, solvents, […]