Signaling a notable advance in “extended producer responsibility” (EPR) policies, on July 13, Maine became the first U.S. state to require companies to pay fees related to the type and quantity of packaging for products sold in the state, in order to fund state recycling programs. The new law (LD 1541) is the first EPR
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FDA Considers Petition to Ban PFAS Food Uses, As Companies Move Toward Phase-Out
By Joseph Green
A coalition of environmental, food safety, and consumer health advocacy groups petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday to ban per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from food contact uses, and to “take aggressive action to protect consumers from all PFCs [per- and poly-fluorinated compounds].”
The petition contends that the scientific evidence shows “widespread…
EPA Expands List of PFAS Subject to TRI Reporting
By Joseph Green
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adding three per-/poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the list of substances reportable under the agency’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting program. Consistent with a recently leaked document highlighting priorities of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), the agency announced earlier today (June 3) the addition of…
EPA Considering Expanded TSCA CDR and TRI Reporting Requirements, Environmental Justice Analyses
By Joseph Green
The new 2021-2023 strategic plan of the U.S. EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) floats a series of potential expanded reporting requirements under the agency’s Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) and Environmental Protection and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) programs. The TRI and CDR programs are…
Court Injunction Hints at Prop 65 Relief for Acrylamide in Foods
By Joseph Green
In the latest of a string of potentially ground-altering developments under California’s Proposition 65, a federal judge has temporarily enjoined plaintiffs from initiating new cases alleging failure to warn for foods and beverages that expose consumers to acrylamide, a Prop 65-listed carcinogen that has been the subject of hundreds of actions in the past several…
EPA Grants Temporary Reprieve to TSCA PBT Chemical Prohibition, Re-Opens Comment Period
By Joseph Green
Facing a massive uproar from industry groups and companies, late yesterday EPA put a hold on enforcement of a newly effective prohibition on one “PBT” chemical and announced a new comment period to re-examine the rules issued on January 6, 2021, for five PBTs under section 6(h) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
The…
Transatlantic Trade Sensitivities Come to the Fore with Regulatory Divergence on Pesticides
By Joseph Green
More than a quarter of pesticides used by U.S. farmers are banned in the European Union. Atrazine which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates to be the most widely used herbicide in the U.S., for instance, was banned in the EU in 2003 due to concerns that it is a groundwater contaminant. In April 2018,…