Newsletters

10.14.16

EPA Taking First Actions to Restrict Existing Chemical Uses

On October 11, 2016, EPA announced the start of expedited rulemaking to restrict the existing uses of five widely used chemicals that have been identified as being toxic, persistent and/or bioaccumulative in the environment (PBTs).


10.13.16

TSCA Reform Will Fundamentally Change U.S. Chemical Regulation

Astonishingly, in an election year and at a time of unprecedented partisanship, this past June, Congress adopted significant reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) with sweeping support from both sides of the aisle.


10.05.16

2017 "Reset" of TSCA Inventory Will Affect All Chemical Users

As required by the 2016 amendments to the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) next year will zero out and rebuild its inventory of chemicals in commerce (the TSCA Inventory).


07.19.16

Methane Replaces Carbon Dioxide as Primary GHG Regulatory Target

Carbon dioxide, by far the most ubiquitous greenhouse gas (GHG) by volume, has long been the primary target of regulatory efforts to limit GHG emissions. The most significant climate change regulations over the past decade have focused squarely on reducing carbon dioxide emissions, with reductions ...


07.14.16

Sneak Peek: The Future of California’s Cap and Trade

Few government pronouncements are as highly guarded or anticipated as details of a California Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) Cap and Trade amendment package. It may sound wonky, and Janet Yellen may disagree, but California’s Cap and Trade Regulation is a multibillion-dollar-a-year ...


06.30.16

Agreement Reached on Bipartisan Federal GMO Food Labeling Bill

Senate Agriculture Committee leaders reached agreement June 23, 2016, on a bill that would require food containing genetic material modified by recombinant DNA techniques to be labeled or to provide a link to a disclosure indicating that the food is "bioengineered."


06.02.16

EPA Chemical Data Reporting Rule Brings Challenges and Opportunities

Every four years, companies that manufacture or import chemical substances in the U.S. in quantities greater than 25,000 lbs./year by site must submit detailed manufacturing, processing and use information on each of these chemicals to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).


05.26.16

Congress Overhauls 1976 Federal Chemical Regulation Law

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill that, for the first time in 40 years, would modernize the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)—the nation's premier chemical control law. 


05.11.16

The Quiet Evolution of Energy Regulation

Public attention to the energy industry over the past decade and more has focused on four issues: (1) the movement from fossil fuels to more emissions-friendly energy sources, (2) the increased availability and affordable nature of fossil fuels, (3) the greater ability of consumers to control their ...


03.23.16

The End of the Road for LOS Analysis of Traffic Impacts

Automobile traffic congestion, and our collective behavior as automobile drivers, is front and center in environmental conversations and debates.