Preview Newsletter
PM ACC 6/29/2017
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Final TSCA Inventory Notification Rule Eases Reporting Burden
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Changes reflected in the US EPA’s final rule on notifying substances as active or inactive on the TSCA inventory will ease reporting obligations for affected companies, say legal experts. -
Scope Document For TSCA Evaluation Of PV29 Has Range Of Endpoints
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA will consider a range of human health and environmental hazard endpoints in its forthcoming TSCA risk evaluation of Pigment Violet 29 (PV29). But it has ruled out further consideration of genotoxicity and carcinogenicity. -
(ACC Blog) Attention Dust Bunnies: You’re Safe From BPA
Jun 29, 2017 | American Chemistry Matters
By Steven Hentges
A common definition of the word dust refers to fine, dry particles of matter. From dust storms on earth to cosmic dust, just about everywhere that any form of matter is present, dust will also be present. -
(ACC Mentioned) ACC Sees Opportunity To Moderise Rules Of Origin In NAFTA
Jun 29, 2017 | ICIS
By Joseph Chang
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) sees an opportunity to modernise the rules of origin in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). -
Rhode Island Senate Advances Flame Retardant Ban
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The Rhode Island senate has passed a measure that would ban the sale of residential upholstered bedding or furniture containing more than 100 parts per million of any organohalogen flame retardant chemical. -
ACI Expects Healthcare Antiseptic Manufacturers To Lose Most Active Ingredients
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Vanessa Zainzinger
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will ban some 80% of active ingredients currently allowed for use in healthcare antiseptics, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) expects. -
King's College Scientists Warn Of Potential Health Risks From Microplastics
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Scientists from King's College London warn of the potential human health risks of microplastics from both dietary and inhalation exposure. -
US Network Targets Solvent And Adhesive Alternatives In Electronics
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Several pilot projects are underway to test alternatives to solvents and bonding adhesives commonly used in electronics manufacturing, according to director of Clean Electronics Production Network (CEPN) Sarah O'Brien, less than a year after its first meeting. -
Canada Issues Snac On Cosmetic Ingredient
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The Canadian government has issued a significant new activity notice (Snac) for 1,1′-biphenyl, bis(1-methylethyl)-. -
ECHA Revokes Four REACH Registration Dossiers
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Echa has revoked three REACH registration dossiers for being incomplete and one for breaching the ‘one substance, one registration’ (Osor) principle. -
Top-Level Trade Advisory Committee Lays Out NAFTA Recommendations
Jun 29, 2017 | PoliticoPro Whiteboard
By Adam Behsudi
The U.S. government's senior advisory committee representing agriculture, labor groups, manufacturing and services firms issued 12 pages of recommendations for the renegotiation of NAFTA, placing particular focus on streamlining customs procedures and broadening services trade. -
Trump to Tout U.S. Natural Gas in Warsaw
Jun 29, 2017 | Reuters (In E&E Energywire)
By Roberta Rampton
President Trump will promote U.S. natural gas exports at a meeting next week in Poland, according to his top economic adviser. -
IECA Wants Moratorium on New LNG Exports to Non-Free Trade Countries
Jun 29, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By David Bradley
The Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) on Wednesday called on the Trump administration to implement five policy recommendations, including a moratorium on further approvals of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to non-free trade agreement (FTA) countries, in an effort to protect the U.S. economy and consumers. -
'Nuclear 17' Breach Met with U.S. Government Blackout
Jun 29, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak and Peter Behr
Grid security experts, nuclear power plant operators and government officials are keeping a tight lid on details surrounding a recent cybersecurity incident dubbed "Nuclear 17." -
State High Court Upholds Cap-and-Trade Program
Jun 29, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Debra Kahn
The California Supreme Court declined yesterday to hear an appeal of a lawsuit against California's cap-and-trade program, ensuring that it can continue holding auctions through 2020. -
Long-Awaited Report Urges Disclosure of Climate Risks
Jun 29, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
A panel of private-sector experts this morning unveiled a much-anticipated final report on climate change and corporate disclosure. -
Germany's Merkel Ready To Confront Trump Over Paris Climate Deal
Jun 29, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Robin Eberhardt
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says next week's global summit in Hamburg will focus on pressing on with the Paris climate accord despite President Trump's move to pull the U.S. out of the deal.
Industry and Association News - There are no clips to report at this time.
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Environment News
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Final TSCA Inventory Notification Rule Eases Reporting Burden
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Changes reflected in the US EPA’s final rule on notifying substances as active or inactive on the TSCA inventory will ease reporting obligations for affected companies, say legal experts.
The so-called inventory reset rule requires manufacturers and importers to submit to the agency – within 180 days of the final rule’s publishing in the Federal Register – the substances they have used in the ten-year ‘lookback period’ ending 21 June 2016. Processors (downstream users) will be able to subsequently report to fill any gaps.
The EPA intends to use the data to determine the substances active in commerce, to better focus its existing chemicals programme under section 6 of TSCA, and to ensure confidential business information (CBI) claims are current.
But throughout the rule’s consultation, industry groups have pressed the EPA to adopt efficiencies that remove "duplicative and unnecessary" reporting requirements.
And according to Judah Prero, an attorney with law firm Sidley Austin, it is clear the team at the EPA "actually did listen to comments that they received".
"All the way around, it’s streamlined," agreed Michael Boucher, partner at Dentons. "Overall, the changes will make reporting easier."'Streamlining'
Consistent with requests from industry groups, the EPA adopted a number of changes in its final inventory reset rule. These included increased reporting exemptions; less information on notifications; and delayed deadlines.
The agency expanded the pool of substances that will be included on an "interim active substances list" – for which notification will not be required – to include substances reported as confidential under the 2012/2016 chemical data reporting (CDR) rule as well as those for which it has received a Notice of Commencement (NOC) during the lookback period.
Substances manufactured solely for export, as well as those used only for testing and marketing purposes, are similarly exempted.
The agency is also allowing manufacturers not to have to report a substance for which it can produce a Central Data Exchange (CDX) receipt, documenting EPA’s receipt of a notification from another company. This runs contrary to comments made by some NGOs, which said the statute does not allow for only a subset of manufacturers to report a substance's use.
In response to comments on the burden of information required, the EPA has removed the need to report commercial activity type and date range. And it has clarified that persons must only report information "known to or reasonably ascertainable by them".
The EPA has also added a 90-day transitional period after it publishes the final active/inactive list, before an inactive designation takes effect. This will allow companies to submit a forward-looking notification before the designation kicks in, thus preventing a scenario where processing would need to be halted overnight on a substance that was erroneously not notified.
And it has extended the optional reporting period for processors – during which they can notify any substances not reported by upstream suppliers – by an additional 180 days. Downstream users had requested a longer period to ensure they had sufficient time to review the list of active substances reported by manufacturers and identify any that were missing.'Huge amount of work'
The agency however, did not agree to requests to adopt a ‘one-and-done’ approach, calling such a system "unfeasible". As proposed by industry, this would have had the EPA maintain a list of substances that have already been reported as active and for which further notifications would not be required.
And despite expanded exemptions, substances excluded from CDR reporting – including polymers and those that qualify for low-volume exemptions – will not be similarly exempted from inventory notification.
Notwithstanding reporting exemptions, if a company wishes to maintain an existing confidentiality claim, it must submit a notification stating so.
Speaking on a recent Keller & Heckman webinar, firm partner Herb Estreicher said that despite the changes to the rule, there is "a huge amount of work for companies to do within the next six months".
The workload, he added, would be on par with pre-registration for REACH in 2008. And unlike with the EU regime, a company cannot broadly pre-register all substances. Rather, the TSCA process requires that a substance be active in commerce during the prescribed ten-year period.
"Even though the proposed rule was streamlined in some respects, it’s still a remarkably complicated rule," said Dr Estreicher.
Tom Berger, a fellow partner at K&H, recommended that companies that have not already done so begin determining which substances they have used during the lookback period. And those with foreign suppliers, he said, should begin requesting accession numbers or coordinating a joint submission with those parties.
Finally, companies should determine which substances they will seek to maintain confidentiality claims for, especially if they plan to rely on reporting exemptions.
https://chemicalwatch.com/57281/final-tsca-inventory-notification-rule-eases-reporting-burden
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Scope Document For TSCA Evaluation Of PV29 Has Range Of Endpoints
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA will consider a range of human health and environmental hazard endpoints in its forthcoming TSCA risk evaluation of Pigment Violet 29 (PV29). But it has ruled out further consideration of genotoxicity and carcinogenicity.
The pigment is one of ten substances in the first tranche of chemicals to be evaluated under the new TSCA. The agency issued scope documents for each on 23 June. Industry will scrutinise these to see how EPA intends to implement the early stages and the sort of uses, exposures and endpoints that are included.
In the case of PV29, human health hazard endpoints for consideration include: acute toxicity; eye irritation; skin irritation; skin sensitisation; repeated-dose toxicity; and reproductive and developmental toxicity. The agency says it has previously identified all of these.
In contrast, in vitro genotoxicity tests have given negative results, without metabolic activation. Furthermore, structure-activity evaluation suggests there is "negligible potential" for the "unusual" molecule - comprising a 2D aromatic network of seven rings - to intercalate into DNA, the agency said.
Although carcinogenicity tests have not been conducted, the agency says, the pigment is unlikely to be carcinogenic because of the negative genotoxicity results and structure-activity considerations, as well as the expectation of negligible absorption and uptake, based on its "very low" solubility.
The environmental hazard endpoints for consideration are acute and chronic toxicity for aquatic and terrestrial organisms. The agency expects PV29 to be highly persistent in the environment but have low bioaccumulation potential.
Data sources
The scoping document discusses three potential sources of hazard information: the EU REACH registration dossier for PV29, a 2017 letter to the EPA from the Colour Pigment Manufacturers Association (CPMA), and scientific literature.
Summary information from the REACH dossier is freely available via Echa’s registered substances database but the full study reports are not.
This information shows that the dossier contains data for a wide range of human health and environmental hazard endpoints. In all cases, the returned results are negative. Correspondingly the registrants have not submitted any hazard classification notifications under CLP.
The EPA says that it is trying to acquire the full study reports. To do so, it will need the cooperation of either Echa or the two REACH registrants for the substance: BASF Colours & Effects and Sun Chemicals.
But David Wawer at CPMA points out that there are legal barriers preventing the companies - both association members - from offering these to the EPA. The regulatory and legal structure for creating REACH Siefs - the mandatory substance information exchange fora that registrants must join to enable data sharing - has no relationship to what goes on in North America.
How the EPA will handle intellectual property rights and confidentiality claims under TSCA remains a hot topic of debate. One lawyer has said that the agency’s current plans would be a disaster for data owners.
Mr Wawer suggests the agency could "take it on the word of their European and Canadian counterparts … One would think that the robust summaries - which they cite - are adequate".
Conditions of use
The scoping document gives four "primary" industrial and commercial uses, as well as one consumer use. These are:as an intermediate to create or adjust other perylene pigments;incorporation into paints and coatings used primarily in the automobile industry;incorporation into plastic and rubber products used primarily in automobiles and industrial carpeting;in merchant ink for commercial printing; andin consumer watercolours and acrylic paint.
The document says 90% of the PV29 produced in the US is processed as a site-limited intermediate in the formation of other perylene pigments or "used to incorporate into formulation, mixture or reaction products".
There was not time for public consultation on a scoping document draft, the EPA says. But the agency will take public comments on a ‘problem formulation document’, which will refine the scope - "as an additional interim step" - before publication of the draft risk assessment.
The agency expects to publish the problem formulation document within six months.
Chemical Watch will be reporting on the other scope documents in the coming weeks
https://chemicalwatch.com/57291/scope-document-for-tsca-evaluation-of-pv29-has-range-of-endpoints
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(ACC Blog) Attention Dust Bunnies: You’re Safe From BPA
Jun 29, 2017 | American Chemistry Matters
By Steven Hentges
A common definition of the word dust refers to fine, dry particles of matter. From dust storms on earth to cosmic dust, just about everywhere that any form of matter is present, dust will also be present. That includes the ubiquitous household dust that seems to magically appear in our homes on every surface and in the form of dust bunnies under furniture.
Household dust consists of particles of most every form of matter that is present in our personal environment, including particles of us. From skin cells and hair, to fabric fibers, to pollen and soil particles, household dust has it all.
Although it may be just an annoyance to you, household dust is a topic of research for some scientists. Of particular scientific interest is the presence of trace levels of environmental contaminants that are found in household dust. Understanding which contaminants are present in dust and how they got there can provide important information about the contaminants in our environment and how they move around.
Household dust can also be a source of human exposure to environmental contaminants and, thus, a potential health risk. This is especially so for infants and toddlers who spend a lot of time on the floor and are prone to put everything in their mouths.
One of the environmental contaminants that has been measured in household dust is bisphenol A (BPA), which is primarily used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. Clear and highly shatter-resistant, polycarbonate is used in common consumer products such as bicycle helmets, sunglass lenses and CDs. Epoxy resins are tough, durable materials that excel as protective coatings used to prevent corrosion of metal products.
Recent studies have reported BPA in household dust samples from 15 countries in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Importantly though, the levels of BPA have consistently been reported to be very low, in the range of one part per million (ppm) or below.
Along with reporting the levels of BPA in household dust, many of the researchers also estimated the level of human exposure to BPA from dust. Even more importantly, these researchers also consistently report that household dust is a minor source of exposure to BPA and the levels of exposure from dust are far below safe intake limits for BPA set by government bodies worldwide.
Even the highest estimated exposure to BPA from dust is approximately 5,000 times below the safe intake limit set by U.S. government bodies. For BPA in general, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) answers the question “Is BPA safe?” with the straightforward answer “Yes.”
With the very sensitive analytical methods available today it is possible to detect BPA in dust, although only at ultra-trace levels that are not a health concern. Nevertheless, this should not be considered as an excuse to put off housecleaning for another day.
If you’re interested in this story, a longer version of this article is available on Science 2.0. More blogs related to BPA are available at AmericanChemistry.com.
https://blog.americanchemistry.com/2017/06/attention-dust-bunnies-youre-safe-from-bpa/
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(ACC Mentioned) ACC Sees Opportunity To Moderise Rules Of Origin In NAFTA
Jun 29, 2017 | ICIS
By Joseph Chang
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) sees an opportunity to modernise the rules of origin in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Rules of origin are the criteria that determine the national origin of a product. In free trade agreements (FTAs), they have major implications on tariffs or lack thereof on imported products.
“We have an opportunity to bring rules of origin in line with those in subsequent agreements,” said Greg Skelton, senior director of regulatory and technical affairs of the ACC. He made his comments in a press conference call on 26 June.
He referenced the US-South Korea FTA (KORUS) and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), although the US formally announced its withdrawal from the TPP in January 2017 through an executive order.
POLYMER CONTENT RULE
The ACC favours the polymer content rule in NAFTA being consistent with those in the KORUS and the TPP, said Skelton.
KORUS and the TPP require at least 50% of the polymer content by weight in finished goods to originate from the partner countries to avoid tariffs. The same provision is in the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the US. In NAFTA, the threshold is somewhat lower at 40%. Bringing NAFTA in line with other FTAs on this aspect would at the margin be positive for the US polymers sector, as a finished product from the US exported to Mexico and Canada would have to contain greater amounts of locally produced polymers to avoid tariffs.
Likewise, finished products imported into the US from Mexico and Canada would have to contain more polymers from these countries rather than from external sources. These polymers could include US material, which would then be re-imported in the form of finished goods into the US.
The ACC is in favour of other changes in rules of origin. In particular, this includes eliminating the Regional Value Content (RVC) rule, which requires that a product contain a certain amount of originating content as a percentage of product value; providing greater flexibility in determining origin (tariff shift/change in harmonized tariff schedule), substantial transformation, chemical reaction, purification, changes in particle size, etc); and adjusting the “de minimis” amount under NAFTA upwards from 7%, to 10% which would bring NAFTA in line with other US FTAs, said Skelton in testimony to government officials at the US International Trade Commission on 27 June. The “de minimus” rule allows up to a certain percentage (7% in NAFTA) of the selling price of a product to consist of non-qualifying material.
“There are a number of issues with RVC, but the two most commonly cited ones are that it can be very costly and difficult to comply with the administrative requirements to prove origin, especially if the rules require tracing the value of specific parts and materials,” said Skelton to ICIS. “In addition, origin is determined through meeting a percentage of value, so if the floor percentage is not reached or the ceiling percentage is exceeded, the product will not qualify. Similar considerations apply to de minimis – raising this to 10% would reduce costs/compliance issues in claiming origin.”
TRADE FLOWS
Canada is the top destination for US chemical exports amounting to $20.4bn in 2016, excluding pharmaceuticals, according to the ACC. Mexico was second at $19.2bn. The US had a $14.6bn trade surplus in chemicals with Mexico, and $3.0bn surplus with Canada in 2016, excluding pharmaceuticals. The overall US chemical trade surplus was $28.2bn (ex pharma), according to the trade group.
Since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994, chemical trade between the countries has more than tripled from $20bn to $63bn by 2014, according to the latest statistics by the ACC. For the US chemical industry, intracompany trade accounts for a significant portion of global transactions – around 50% of exports and 70% of imports are intracompany, according to the ACC, highlighting the global aspect of supply chains, even within companies. “Eliminating or reducing barriers equals a direct bottom line value for our companies. Putting up trade barriers is like putting a wall in the middle of a factory,” said Skelton.
NAFTA ALIGNED
The ACC is “very aligned” with its trade group counterparts in Mexico and Canada, noted Skelton. In March, the ACC along with ANIQ (Mexican Chemical Industry National Association) and the CIAC (Chemistry Industry Association of Canada) issued a joint statement highlighting NAFTA’s benefits for the regional chemical industries and manufacturing economies, as well as opportunities to harmonise regulations and practices and promote digital data flows.
While certain changes to NAFTA could benefit all parties, at the top of the priority list is to “maintain duty-free trade for all qualifying chemical products”, said Skelton.
The free trade of chemicals is not likely to be a particular area of controversy in NAFTA renegotiations, but the ACC would be concerned if other areas became controversial and hampered the overall agreement, he said.
“After over two decades, it’s important to see if NAFTA meets current needs. We are hopeful [a renegotiated NAFTA] will provide value for US exporters and the economy in general. The expansion of US chemicals will be felt throughout the economy,” said Skelton.
https://www.icis.com/resources/news/2017/06/29/10119778/acc-sees-opportunity-to-moderise-rules-of-origin-in-nafta/
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Rhode Island Senate Advances Flame Retardant Ban
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The Rhode Island senate has passed a measure that would ban the sale of residential upholstered bedding or furniture containing more than 100 parts per million of any organohalogen flame retardant chemical.
The bill (S0166) cleared the chamber unanimously. If passed into law, the sales prohibition would take effect from 1 July 2018.
https://chemicalwatch.com/57279/rhode-island-senate-advances-flame-retardant-ban
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ACI Expects Healthcare Antiseptic Manufacturers To Lose Most Active Ingredients
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Vanessa Zainzinger
Triclosan ban anticipated due to lack of industry support
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will ban some 80% of active ingredients currently allowed for use in healthcare antiseptics, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) expects.
Plans to require manufacturers to submit data demonstrating the safety and efficacy of their antibacterial ingredients were set out in a 2015 proposed rule - and are expected to become law when the final rule is issued. The FDA will assess data submitted by industry and decide whether to classify actives as "generally recognised as safe and effective" (Gras/Grae), or ban their use in the products.
A similar FDA review of consumer antiseptic wash products last year led to the banning of 19 ingredients, including triclosan and triclocarban.
ACI expects triclosan to face a ban in healthcare products as well, along with more than 20 other ingredients, its associate vice president for environmental safety, Paul DeLeo, told CW+BiocidesHub.
Some substances will be banned due to a lack of support by industry, he said. "Companies know it won't get FDA approval so they are not willing to do the additional testing the agency is requiring."
Others will fail because the data to support them is too challenging to generate. The agency, he says, is asking for "new methods that we are not aware of anyone having successfully completed in this space", but it has been willing to give companies more time.
https://chemicalwatch.com/57283/aci-expects-healthcare-antiseptic-manufacturers-to-lose-most-active-ingredients
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King's College Scientists Warn Of Potential Health Risks From Microplastics
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Scientists from King's College London warn of the potential human health risks of microplastics from both dietary and inhalation exposure.
"Although microplastics are widely studied in the context of the marine environment where they are a prolific pollutant, we are only just recognising the potential human exposure pathways," say Stephanie Wright and Frank Kelly.
In a review article in Environmental Science and Technology, they pull together the sparse evidence for a possible inhalation exposure pathway. This includes from "atmospheric fallout", including rainfall. Car tyres are also a possible source of inhaled microplastics, they add.
Their biopersistence could lead to a "suite of biological responses", including inflammation and genotoxicity, they suggest.
Chemical toxicity could result from unbound chemicals and unreacted residual polymers leaching from the microplastics or from associated hydrophobic organic contaminants.
The researchers have compiled a long list of "key knowledge gaps", including:
· Are microplastics able to accumulate in the body? Do they become lodged or are they engulfed by cells?
· If taken up by cells, what is the cellular mechanism of uptake?
· Are accumulative effects the same as those observed in occupational exposures?
Finally, the researchers point to current technical limitations in sampling and identifying them. Current predicted exposure levels are likely to be an underestimate, they say.
"Once we have a better understanding of human exposure levels, and whether microplastics are uptaken/able to translocate, we can begin to unravel the potential toxicological mechanisms and hence therein possible health effects," they conclude.
The Kings College researchers are currently working on a way to detect airborne microplastics. If they find evidence of airborne particles, they intend to implement monitoring campaigns.
In 2016, Professor Kelly gave evidence on microplastics to the UK government's Environmental Audit Committee. "Up until very recently, we have just been worried about the ingestion through shellfish and other molluscs. If we can breathe them in, they could potentially deliver chemicals to the lower parts of our lungs, maybe even across into our circulation," he said.
https://chemicalwatch.com/57290/kings-college-scientists-warn-of-potential-health-risks-from-microplastics
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US Network Targets Solvent And Adhesive Alternatives In Electronics
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Several pilot projects are underway to test alternatives to solvents and bonding adhesives commonly used in electronics manufacturing, according to director of Clean Electronics Production Network (CEPN) Sarah O'Brien, less than a year after its first meeting.
It is too early to break confidentiality by naming specific chemicals, Ms O'Brien said, "but you can guess what some of them are". She said they were chosen because they are some of the most dangerous and members believe alternatives are in reach.
"Over the past five years, there have been a lot of investigations of working conditions and toxic exposure, so we know what some of the big issues are," she told Chemical Watch. "These are also some of the chemicals most widely in use, so we can get a big bang for the buck."
The group was established in 2015 by Green America’s Center for Sustainability Solutions. The mission is to use stakeholder networks to "address sustainability problems in supply chains and complex systems".
It says workers in the industry are often exposed to toxic substances, such as n-hexane, especially in countries such as China, Mexico and Indonesia. Its members have agreed to move towards zero exposure in the electronics manufacturing process, and to develop four initiatives covering: safer substitutions; process chemical reporting; tracking and measuring exposure; and worker engagement and empowerment.
The network includes not only manufacturers - such as Apple, Hewlett Packard and Dell - but also NGOs and labour advocates and the EPA.
"We may make some recommendations in terms of protective equipment, but what we are looking for is limited exposure and finding substitutions," said Ms O’Brien.
The idea is to "build a consensus" and allow suppliers and manufacturers of finished products to change their practices, with less fear of being at a competitive disadvantage.
"If we can show that [new] substances are workable and meet the performance needs the customer is looking for, the supplier can have some confidence in trying something new," Ms O'Brien said.
"It's a high-volume, high-throughput industry and anything that disrupts that is a cause of anxiety."
Also, she said, no one company can make a truly meaningful change.
"One customer might ask for a change in their production line, but if you are in a facility with ten production lines and you ask for a change in one, they will keep using the cheaper, easier chemical [elsewhere] and the exposure profile doesn't change that much."
Once solutions "mature" to the point of being deemed successful, O'Brien said, the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition will take on a key role in "scaling up sector-wide".
At that point, she said, "when we are advocating for wider adoption, then we would be more public about what the substances are and what the plans are in addressing specific chemicals."
While the network's broad base, particularly the inclusion of labour organisations, is unusual, some electronics companies had already started moving toward cleaner production. For example, Apple's progress report, released in April, ranks the company’s prioritisation of substances "it intends to phase out". And industry group the EICC, a network member, has a chemicals management taskforce that promotes the use of safer chemicals.
Members of the CEPN include:
· Apple;
· Dell;
· Fairphone;
· HP;
· Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition;
· Flex;
· Seagate Technologies;
· Inventec Performance Chemicals;
· CEREAL (El Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral);
· Good World Solutions/Labor Link;
· International Campaign for Responsible Technology (ICRT);
· Social Accountability International;
· The Sustainability Consortium, Arizona State University;
· University of California, Irvine;
· University of Massachusetts Lowell;
· Clean Production Action;
· Green Electronics Council;
· TCO Certified; and
· US EPA.
https://chemicalwatch.com/57260/us-network-targets-solvent-and-adhesive-alternatives-in-electronics
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Canada Issues Snac On Cosmetic Ingredient
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The Canadian government has issued a significant new activity notice (Snac) for 1,1′-biphenyl, bis(1-methylethyl)-.
The Notice designates as a new activity, subject to notification and assessment requirements, certain uses. these are the use of the substance to manufacture consumer products covered by the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, and to cosmetics For the manufacture of such products, notification is required 90 days before use of the substance when the concentration of the substance in the product is 1% by weight or more.
For any other activity related to consumer products or cosmetics, notification is required when, during a calendar year, the concentration of the substance in the product is 1% by weight and contains a total quantity of the substance greater than 10 kg.
Examples of products of concern would include, but would not be limited to, do-it-yourself products such as paints, coatings, adhesives, and sealants. Therefore, the use of the substance in such products, as defined in the Notice, would require notification. The substance is not known to be currently used in consumer products or in cosmetics in Canada.
https://chemicalwatch.com/57280/canada-issues-snac-on-cosmetic-ingredient
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ECHA Revokes Four REACH Registration Dossiers
Jun 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Echa has revoked three REACH registration dossiers for being incomplete and one for breaching the ‘one substance, one registration’ (Osor) principle.
The revocation of the three followed two campaigns to check completeness during 2016. The first ran from July and focused on cases where the registrants said they did not provide data because the study was not ready at the time of dossier submission.
The agency requested missing information for more than 140 endpoints from 39 registrations covering 24 substances.
Registrants were given two opportunities to complete their dossiers with a final deadline in April. Consequently dossiers for 35 registrations were adequately updated, but two registration decisions for one company were revoked. The final decision on two registrations for one substance is pending.
Echa ran a second campaign later in 2016 to review lead registrant dossiers containing invalid data waivers, instead of the required studies or adaptations, as stipulated under REACH.
The agency addressed 43 registrations from four companies and revoked one incomplete dossier. The final deadline for another is pending.Osor
In its other campaign, Echa asked registrants to comply with their obligation to become part of a joint registration as required by REACH.
The registrations it reviewed were submitted before the implementing Regulation on joint submission of data and data sharing entered into force in January 2016.
The agency approached 118 individual registrants of charcoal, 81 of which subsequently joined the existing joint submission. Thirty-one filed disputes, which are still being processed.
For five companies, the deadline to join the joint submission has not yet passed, and Echa says it will revoke one company’s registration decision.
Many small and micro-sized charcoal registrants expressed difficulties in negotiating access to the joint submission, the agency says. As a result, it will analyse the information, as well as previous or current disputes, to consider specific measures that could help potential and existing charcoal registrants to fulfil their obligations.
Echa says that, during the course of 2017, it aims to address all situations where multiple registrations exist for the same substance.
It is also developing a strategy to "systematically verify" the completeness of dossiers that were submitted before the enhanced completeness check came into force.
Earlier this month, Echa head Geert Dancet told Chemical Watch that publicly naming companies that submit poor quality dossiers is not the best way forward.
https://chemicalwatch.com/57292/echa-revokes-four-reach-registration-dossiers
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Top-Level Trade Advisory Committee Lays Out NAFTA Recommendations
Jun 29, 2017 | PoliticoPro Whiteboard
By Adam Behsudi
The U.S. government's senior advisory committee representing agriculture, labor groups, manufacturing and services firms issued 12 pages of recommendations for the renegotiation of NAFTA, placing particular focus on streamlining customs procedures and broadening services trade.
"It is time to bring the NAFTA into the 21st Century and to turn it into a high-standards agreement in accordance with the negotiating objectives of the 2015 Trade Promotion Authority," the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations wrote in its comments, filed Wednesday.
The committee's recommendations, however, reflected disagreement on a number of points, with labor-group members voicing views that diverged from those held by the majority on data flows, rules of origin, government procurement and investor protections. The labor members also said they "sharply disagree" with the assessment that NAFTA led to growth in jobs and wages.
At the same time, a majority of committee members said they "caution against making the mistake of trying to use NAFTA to achieve goals that are beyond its reach, such as reducing the bilateral trade deficit with Mexico."
There was broad agreement that a NAFTA do-over should strengthen environment and labor protections. Mexico's shortcomings on labor rights were recognized as one of the factors fueling movement of production and jobs south of the border. "These provisions should be updated and implemented prior to the entry into force of any commercial provisions that an updated NAFTA agreement might incorporate," the comments state.
The members also reached consensus over the need to use the trade deal to tackle climate change. They recommended new commitments to expand renewable energy and eliminate fossil fuel subsidies by 2025.
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
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Trump to Tout U.S. Natural Gas in Warsaw
Jun 29, 2017 | Reuters (In E&E Energywire)
By Roberta Rampton
President Trump will promote U.S. natural gas exports at a meeting next week in Poland, according to his top economic adviser.
On his way to the Group of 20 summit in Germany, Trump will stop in Warsaw to address about a dozen leaders from Central and Eastern Europe.
His remarks in Warsaw will emphasize U.S. natural gas exports to the leaders of a region that is heavily dependent on Russian supplies, said Gary Cohn, director of the White House National Economic Council.
"There are people who use supply almost as a political weapon, in threatening to cut off supply in the coldest parts of the year — in the winter, when people need gas to heat their homes," Cohn said.
"Our intention is to be a force for good and make gas readily available for anyone who needs it," he said (Roberta Rampton, Reuters, June 28).
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/06/29/stories/1060056754
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IECA Wants Moratorium on New LNG Exports to Non-Free Trade Countries
Jun 29, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By David Bradley
The Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) on Wednesday called on the Trump administration to implement five policy recommendations, including a moratorium on further approvals of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to non-free trade agreement (FTA) countries, in an effort to protect the U.S. economy and consumers.
"Excessive LNG export approvals by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to countries with which the U.S. does not have a free trade agreement is inconsistent with President Trump's 'America First' and 'fair-trade' policies, and poses a significant long-term threat to energy-intensive trade-exposed industries' competitiveness and jobs," IECA said in a letter addressed to DOE Secretary Rick Perry and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
DOE's approval in April of Golden Pass Products LLC to export up to 2.21 Bcf/d of LNG to non-FTA countries brought to 19.2 Bcf/d the total of non-FTA exports authorized by the department. At the time, DOE said domestic natural gas production was expected to continue increasing, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projecting an average dry natural gas production rate of 73.1 Bcf/d in 2017, the second-highest on record.
Federal law generally requires approval of natural gas exports to countries that have an FTA with the United States. For countries that do not have an FTA, the Natural Gas Act directs DOE to allow exports unless it finds that the proposed exports "will not be consistent with the public interest."
Total LNG export approvals to FTA and non-FTA countries now equals 71.2% of U.S. 2016 natural gas demand, IECA said.
"This breathtaking amount of natural gas is committed under agreements for 20 to 30 years to foreign countries, and has exceedingly large negative potential implications for the U.S. economy, especially given the relatively small economic gains due to potential LNG exports," said IECA President Paul Cicio. "Using natural gas in manufacturing creates eight times more jobs than exporting the gas.”
The EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2017, issued in January, “is forecasting Nymex natural gas prices will rise 87% by 2020, due in large part to LNG exports,” he said. “If future prices rise to global levels, the U.S. will have lost its competitive advantage and the incentive to invest in the U.S. would be gone, and onshoring by natural gas consuming manufacturing industries would also stop."
Including Golden Pass, DOE has issued 25 authorizations for export to non-FTA countries totaling 7.01 Tcf of natural gas per year.
In addition to the proposed moratorium on further LNG export authorizations to non-FTA countries, IECA also called on the administration to monitor economic impacts of LNG export volumes, require re-permitting of LNG export applications that do not begin operations within five years, and not allow foreign governments to own in whole or part LNG export facilities or U.S. natural gas resources.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/110935-ieca-wants-moratorium-on-new-lng-exports-to-non-free-trade-countries
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'Nuclear 17' Breach Met with U.S. Government Blackout
Jun 29, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak and Peter Behr
Grid security experts, nuclear power plant operators and government officials are keeping a tight lid on details surrounding a recent cybersecurity incident dubbed "Nuclear 17."
E&E News first reported the recent security breach Tuesday morning after several utilities and the North American Electric Reliability Corp. confirmed they were aware of the case (Energywire, June 27).
The severity of the cyber intrusion, which affected multiple nuclear generation sites in the U.S., isn't publicly known. The various federal agencies most likely to be familiar with the incident, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Homeland Security and FBI, declined comment. Energy Secretary Rick Perry offered a simple "No, sir" when asked at a White House press conference for information about Nuclear 17. A spokesman for President Trump's National Security Council deferred comment to the FBI and DHS.
Information about the intrusion has been disseminated through two industry-led groups, the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center and Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council. It's not yet publicly clear whether the hacker or hackers responsible for the breach specifically targeted nuclear facilities or whether they intended to disrupt operations, siphon off information or accomplish some other goal.
A staffer on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said the panel "is monitoring" the case but did not elaborate.
Authorities have declined to indicate whether the incident could have affected nuclear safety, though input from nuclear security experts, coupled with a search of recent safety alerts from the NRC, suggest there is not an imminent safety risk.
However, the wall of secrecy surrounding the case hints at the possibility that there is still an active threat. If confirmed as an intentional breach, Nuclear 17 would mark only the fourth such deliberate cyber incident of its kind in the U.S., according to a database compiled by the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative that dates back to 1990, and only the second to affect at least one nuclear power plant operator.
The other two nuclear cyber events involved data theft in 2011 from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which conducts classified nuclear research, and a more recent malicious email campaign directed at the NRC, which regulates nuclear facilities. A third incident reportedly involved a former employee causing financial damage but no operational impacts to Texas utility giant Energy Future Holdings Corp.'s computer networks.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/06/29/stories/1060056774
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State High Court Upholds Cap-and-Trade Program
Jun 29, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Debra Kahn
The California Supreme Court declined yesterday to hear an appeal of a lawsuit against California's cap-and-trade program, ensuring that it can continue holding auctions through 2020.
The suit by the California Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups had challenged the auctions of greenhouse gas permits on the grounds that they violated Proposition 13, a state constitutional amendment that requires a two-thirds vote to raise taxes. The 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento upheld the auctions in April (Climatewire, April 7).
The high court's decision comes as Gov. Jerry Brown (D) and lawmakers are negotiating the future of the cap-and-trade program, which was written to expire in 2020. Without a two-thirds vote, a post-2020 program would be vulnerable to legal challenges that cite Proposition 26, a 2010 initiative that extended Proposition 13 to apply to fees as well as taxes.
If the state Supreme Court had taken up the case, it would have prolonged the current vulnerabilities and potentially dampened demand at future auctions. Having the case resolved gives "one less card for industry to play at the negotiating table," wrote Ethan Elkind, director of the climate program at the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Law, Energy & the Environment.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/06/29/stories/1060056789
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Long-Awaited Report Urges Disclosure of Climate Risks
Jun 29, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
A panel of private-sector experts this morning unveiled a much-anticipated final report on climate change and corporate disclosure.
The takeaways: Companies should disclose information about how they analyze climate change threats and opportunities, how climate change could affect their financial plans and how the organization identifies climate risks.
Companies should also share their greenhouse gas emissions data, their goals to mitigate climate change and any metrics they use to track how their climate management plans are working, according to the recommendations by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
The report is the culmination of 18 months of work drafting rules for companies to share with investors and the public on how global warming and its side effects affect their operations.
The recommendations are voluntary and will be presented to finance ministers and central bankers at the Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, in July.
The Financial Stability Board, chaired by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, created the task force in December 2015 to prompt companies to disclose in their financial paperwork how climate change overlaps with their business.
"The task force's recommendations have been developed by the market for the market," Carney said in a statement. "Widespread adoption will provide investors, banks and insurers with that information, helping minimize the risk that market adjustments to climate change will be incomplete, late and potentially destabilizing."
The recommendations represent one of the most exhaustive efforts ever undertaken to pinpoint how climate change and regulations to slash emissions threaten the global economy and specific industries. And the TCFD hopes businesses globally will adopt its suggestions when publishing financial records.
"It is difficult for investors to know which companies are most at risk from climate change, which are best prepared, and which are taking action," said philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, the leader of the task force, in a letter to Carney two weeks ago.
"The risk climate change poses to businesses and financial markets is real and already present," he said.
Still, unlike many reports that attempt to quantify the financial hazards of climate change, the TCFD work also shows how companies and investors can discuss climate change and set goals to avoid economic risks tied to global warming.
The report includes custom guidelines for banks, insurance companies, automakers, farmers, real estate and other sectors.
"It's a very fact-specific, company-by-company analysis," Warren Lavey, a law professor at the University of Illinois, said by phone.
After reviewing the recommendations, which he called a great "toolkit for disclosures," Lavey said they likely won't prompt action among financial regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, which poorly enforces its own climate change policies (Climatewire, Aug. 11, 2016).
"It's a prestigious body with a serious process, but that doesn't mean that laws and corporate practices are going to change tomorrow," Lavey said.
But today's report is another signal that investors and companies care about climate change and scrutinize it, he said.
'G-20 is going to be paying attention'
More than 100 corporate executives of major companies, including Wall Street banks, international insurers, fossil energy firms and utilities, endorsed the TCFD suggestions, according to a preliminary list.
Most of the signers lead European companies or financial institutions, often both. A handful of major American companies are represented, as are several fossil fuel firms.
Executives at Bank of America Corp., DuPont, Johnson Controls, PwC and Salesforce.com Inc. signed. So did the bosses at a handful of oil and raw materials firms, including BHP Billiton Ltd., Vale SA and Eni SpA, the Italian oil player.
Mary Schapiro, former chairwoman of the SEC and an adviser to the task force, told reporters the group understands some companies may want to continue filing their climate documents somewhere other than within the TCFD framework.
The guidelines revealed today are not meant to be restrictive, Schapiro said. "We think this is a fine way to start on this journey," she said.
Christian Thimann of AXA SA, the French insurer that has been peeling its money away from the coal industry, is on the task force.
He said the TCFD ideas would have been useful during AXA's coal divestment program. And he said the banking network worldwide is a valve that can expand or squeeze fossil fuel production.
"They come in early in infrastructure projects," he said before pointing out that the Financial Stability Board — a banking regulator founded after the 2008 financial meltdown to head off future crashes — has taken an interest in climate change.
"We have worked on the auspices of the FSB," he said. "So the fact that they think this is important tells you something."
Jean Rogers, the CEO of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, a nonprofit that studies climate risk, said the report is a strong step forward.
Rogers said it signals interest from investors and corporations in climate change. And she said the report, due to its pragmatic and dispassionate approach, frames climate change as a concern to evaluate, not a partisan sticking point.
"It's no longer politicized language; it's the language of risk," Rogers said in an interview.
"This is going to the G-20, and the G-20 is going to be paying attention," she said.
Andy Green, managing director of economic policy at the Center for American Progress, agreed.
By underscoring interest in better climate disclosure among investors, financial markets and regulators, the report frames climate change as apolitical.
"It cracks open the politicization," Green said in an interview. The task force's work shows why climate change is a global risk, he said.
"The U.S. economy is not immune from this," he said. "What I think this really highlights is that there are long-term risks to investors, to the banking sector, to stability."
Green added, "We don't want to see an asset price shock."
Tension behind the scenes
Members of the task force say privately that there was tension behind closed doors about whether to make the disclosure requirements aggressive or to lower them, in hopes of getting more firms to use the TCFD framework.
Though the report that will go to Hamburg is voluntary, what the FSB does and says carries weight in national capitals and the corridors of central banks and finance ministries worldwide.
After the global financial panic in 2012, the FSB also pushed for a task force — the Enhanced Disclosure Task Force, which in part inspired the climate task force. It was meant to analyze financial red flags among banks. And the FSB received plenty of responses from banks, credit rating agencies, accounting firms, auditing groups and other analysts, despite the voluntary provision.
Reaction to this task force's results has been mixed among energy companies.
While Royal Dutch Shell PLC and some of its peers support the TCFD as part of a move toward cleaner-burning fuels, a group of oil companies blindsided the task force in May — before its results were final.
BP PLC, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Co. and Total SA paid for a report that lambasted the TCFD (Climatewire, May 17). IHS Markit published the report, which said the TCFD may "undermine" economic stability and that singling out climate risks for specific disclosure "would represent a radical departure."
The group said the oil companies had no control over the final product. Daniel Yergin, an oil historian, mocked the task force and its examination of climate disclosure.
"We're actually the only people who took a hard look at it," Yergin recently told an audience at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Former SEC leader Schapiro called the oil companies' report wrong on a conference call. "I appreciate the notation of how it was financed," she said. "Markets work best when they're transparent."
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/06/29/stories/1060056783
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Germany's Merkel Ready To Confront Trump Over Paris Climate Deal
Jun 29, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Robin Eberhardt
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says next week's global summit in Hamburg will focus on pressing on with the Paris climate accord despite President Trump's move to pull the U.S. out of the deal.
Merkel on Thursday told Germany’s Parliament she is prepared to have difficult talks with Trump at the G-20 summit about the Paris deal and climate change, The Washington Post reported.
“Since the U.S. announced that it would exit the Paris agreement, we cannot expect any easy talks in Hamburg,” Merkel said. “The dissent is obvious, and it would be dishonest to cover it up.
“We can’t, and we won’t, wait until the last person on earth is convinced of the scientific evidence for climate change,” she added in a jab at Trump, whom she didn't mention by name.
Earlier this month, Trump rejected the Paris climate change agreement, breaking with the nearly 200 nations that came together in an effort to limit greenhouse emissions.
The move promoted major backlash from Democrats, environmental groups and many of the U.S.’s allies abroad that were part of the agreement.
Merkel said resistance from climate change skeptics will not convince the members of the pact to revise the agreement, calling it “irreversible.”
She added that she would try to send a signal to Trump against isolationism, saying, “Whoever believes that the world’s problems can be solved by isolationism and protectionism is making an enormous error.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/340052-germanys-merkel-readying-to-confront-trump-over-paris-climate-deal
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