Preview Newsletter
PM ACC Clips Report - November 8, 2018
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(ACC Mentioned) What Makes Olin Corp (NYSE: OLN) Stock a Buy?
Nov 8, 2018 | Hade Platform
Olin Corp (NYSE: OLN) is well known for its Winchester division which offers ammunition products for hunters and law enforcement agencies along with small caliber military ammunition products. -
(ACC Mentioned) EQUATE Hosts Roundtable Organized By GPCA
Nov 8, 2018 | MENAFN.COM
Senior government and industry leaders from across the Arabian Gulf and globally converged at an important industry roundtable, organized by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) and sponsored by EQUATE Petrochemical Company, a global producer of petrochemicals, on 7 November 2018 in Kuwait. -
(ACC Mentioned) Democratic House Likely to Grill EPA on Chemicals Law
Nov 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Democrats will likely grill the Environmental Protection Agency next year on its implementation of the primary U.S. chemicals law. -
EPA Issues TSCA ‘Not Likely’ Findings For Four Substances
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA has determined that four substances are unlikely to pose an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment, after their evaluation under the TSCA new chemicals programme. -
EPA Pressed To Use 'Discretionary' TSCA Authority To Address PFASs
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
Members of the consumer advocacy community are urging the US EPA to use its discretionary authority under TSCA to address what some describe as a ‘PFAS crisis’, attendees at the Chemical Watch US Regulatory Summit have heard. -
(ACC Mentioned) 'Moderate Evidence' Linking DINP To Male Reproductive Effects
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Dr Emma Davies
There is "moderate evidence" that the phthalate DINP may cause male reproductive effects at levels seen in human populations, according to a systematic literature review led by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). -
US Midterm Elections ‘An Opportunity’ For State-Level Chemical Advocacy
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Lisa Martine Jenkins
A US NGO focused on state-level chemicals policy sees the results of this week's midterm elections as "an opportunity" for reduced gridlock and increased action on substances of concern. -
ACI, HCPA Say They Have Sued New York Over Disclosure Policy
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Leigh Stringer
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Future Uncertain For Prop 65 'Short-Form' Warnings
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) may be taking a closer look at when ‘short-form’ warnings can be used to satisfy Proposition 65 requirements, and there is "no guarantee" that they will remain a compliance alternative in many future cases, delegates at Chemical Watch’s US Regulatory Summit have heard. -
Spirit Of The Law
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch - Brief
By Dr Andrew Warmington
The perennial image of animal testing on cosmetics features heavily in the Briefing this month, though from radically different perspectives. -
Canadian Draft Assessment Finds Cancer Risk With Cosmetics Colourant
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Andrew Turley
Solvent violet 13, a colourant found in a wide range of consumer products including cosmetics and toys, is harmful to human health at current levels of exposure, according to a draft conclusion from the Canadian government. -
Canada Clears 72 Substances, Proposes Snacs On 2 Others
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The Canadian government has concluded that 72 substances do not pose a threat to human health or the environment, according to a final screening assessment. It has also moved to impose significant new activity (Snac) provisions on two additional substances assessed in the grouping. -
ECHA Plans Increased Scrutiny Of REACH Dossier 'Opt-Outs'
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
Echa will manually check all new REACH registrations with 'opt-outs' from joint data submissions from 1 December, as part of efforts to increase scrutiny of such dossiers for completeness and compliance. -
UK Scientists Give Vanadium Contamination Warning
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
A group of UK-based scientists has called for improvements in the risk assessment of the element vanadium as an environmental contaminant, describing emerging sources as a "growing problem requiring wide-scale intervention". -
Annex VIII: Theory And Practice
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemcial Watch - Brief
By Dr Andrew Warmington
With just over a year until the first deadline, how is the new harmonised system for poison centre information shaping up? -
Cheniere Posts Small Profit As Sabine, Corpus LNG Expansions Continue
Nov 8, 2018 | Chron
By Jordan Blum
Liquefied natural gas pioneer Cheniere Energy said Thursday it reported a $65 million profit in the third quarter as the expansions continue at its LNG export facilities in Louisiana and Texas. -
Delaware Sues EPA Over Interstate Ozone Petition Denial
Nov 8, 2018 | Inside EPA
Delaware is joining Maryland and environmental groups in suing EPA over the agency's denial of Clean Air Act petitions filed by the two states, which asked for direct federal regulation of power plants in upwind states contributing to elevated ozone levels on the East Coast that hinder the states' attainment of ambient air standards. -
Democrats Said to Plan Revival of Climate Change Panel in House
Nov 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Ari Natter
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House Dems Plan To Bring Back Committee On Climate Change
Nov 8, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Avery Anapol
Democrats are reportedly planning to revive a House committee on climate change after winning back control of the House. -
EPA Skirts Court Decision In Ozone Implementation Rule
Nov 8, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
EPA has issued a long-awaited final implementation strategy for its 2015 ozone standard that touts regulatory flexibility but punts on key issues flagged by an appellate court ruling earlier this year.
Industry and Association News
LCSA News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Transportation and Infrastructure News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) What Makes Olin Corp (NYSE: OLN) Stock a Buy?
Nov 8, 2018 | Hade Platform
Olin Corp (NYSE: OLN) is well known for its Winchester division which offers ammunition products for hunters and law enforcement agencies along with small caliber military ammunition products. Olin Corp (NYSE: OLN) was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Clayton, Missouri. This type of industry includes around 10,000 companies and is a $689 billion enterprise in the US, employing over 850 thousand people according to the American Chemistry Council.
The reason we point this out is it is tough to pick out a company in this sector but that is exactly what we have done. We rate Olin Corp. (NYSE:OLN) a BUY for several reasons and that is why they have moved up on the Hade Platform Top 100 list. The holy grail of investing is to find the biggest winning stocks in the market. The outliers. The stocks that break all of the records ... i.e., the leaders that go up the most and that is what we do on the HadePlatform.
What is HADE?
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Over the past week, Olin Corp (NYSE:OLN) investment grade on the Hade Platform has risen steadily, making it a Top 30 stock. Ironically, this stability in overall rating happens during a time when the overall market is falling, and as our investment grades as an average have consistently declined for the last four months, effectively predicting a correction.
With overall investment grades still lower, we suggest holding large sums of cash and being very selective when making investment decisions. According to OLN stock’s current grade, it might very well be one of those selective opportunities. Why should you trust our ratings? The Hade Platform has proven over the course of three years through the application of DLAs and artificial intelligence that it consistently outperforms Wall Street consensus estimates (63%) and major benchmarks such as the S&P 500 (250%). Access our premium services and start beating the market.
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https://hadeplatform.com/articles/2018/11/08/what-makes-olin-corp-nyseoln-stock-a-buy
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(ACC Mentioned) EQUATE Hosts Roundtable Organized By GPCA
Nov 8, 2018 | MENAFN.COM
(MENAFN - Editorial) Senior government and industry leaders from across the Arabian Gulf and globally converged at an important industry roundtable, organized by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) and sponsored by EQUATE Petrochemical Company, a global producer of petrochemicals, on 7 November 2018 in Kuwait.
The high-level meeting titled ‘Government and Chemical Industry Collaboration in Chemical Management and Hazardous Waste’, included participation from Naser Aldousari, Senior Vice President, EQUATE, Dr. Abdulwahab Al Sadoun, Secretary General, GPCA, and Dan Roczniak, Director Outreach, American Chemistry Council.
The agenda discussed important topics concerning collaboration between government and private organizations, GPCA’s overall efforts, the prerequisites of establishing a robust recycling industry in the region, the opportunities and challenges for industrial waste recycling or chemicals transportation and the case for ADR, formally, the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR), as well as Responsible Care® in the GCC.
Dr. Abdulwahab Al Sadoun, Secretary General, GPCA, commented: “We are pleased to have had such a positive outcome at this important government-industry roundtable which gathered together senior government officials, industry leaders and regulators to discuss ways of collaboration between GCC governments and the chemical industry that effectively address chemical management risks and leverages industrial hazardous waste opportunities. By organizing this meeting with the support of EQUATE, we aim to improve the awareness and foster dialogue among regulators on best available practices across the globe, while increasing collaboration to facilitate the development of regulations related to Global Harmonization System (GHS) and Dangerous Goods Road Transportation (DGRT) by working in partnership with the relevant stakeholders.”
For his part, Naser Aldousari, Senior Vice President, EQUATE, said: “Collaboration between our industry and the government regulators is a key element for overall progress, development and growth. As this forum is co-organized by GPCA and EQUATE, we must take note of the challenging role of GPCA as it represents over 95% of the petrochemical producers in the Gulf. While GPCA is establishing initiatives, sustaining and maintaining the success of such initiatives is the role of this regulatory forum that brings together both government and private bodies. Our goals here are simple: Through this partnership between regulatory bodies and GPCA, we want to have common regulations to facilitate regional trade, as well as strengthen our global presence and competitiveness.”
Attended by over 90 delegates from the GCC and other parts of the world, the roundtable included representatives from GPCA member companies, as well as environmental authorities, industrial bodies, fire departments, armed forces, customs and others.https://menafn.com/1097675367/EQUATE-Hosts-Roundtable-Organized-by-GPCA
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(ACC Mentioned) Democratic House Likely to Grill EPA on Chemicals Law
Nov 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Tonko plans TSCA oversight hearings if selected to chair subcommittee with jurisdiction
Subpoena powers to uncover information about EPA’s chemical decisions in Democrats’ hands
Democrats will likely grill the Environmental Protection Agency next year on its implementation of the primary U.S. chemicals law.
Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), will seek the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce’s Environment Subcommittee, which has primary jurisdiction over the Toxic Substances Control Act, a committee aide told Bloomberg Environment Nov. 7.
If elected, Tonko plans to hold a TSCA oversight hearing early next year, the aide said.
“The effort to reform the law was a bipartisan achievement done in good faith. There is no reason that members on both sides of the aisle, environmental and public health groups, and the chemical industry should not want to ensure that the law is working as Congress intended,” Tonko told Bloomberg Environment by email.
“Americans need a chemical safety program that works. Conducting oversight to understand if EPA is adequately protecting consumers, workers, and vulnerable populations—as required by the law—should be a top priority,” he said.
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), ranking member of the full committee, would like to become its chairman, an aide for his office said Nov. 7. It is too early to say what Pallone’s priorities would be, the aide said.
In his position as ranking member, Pallone repeatedly asked for TSCA oversight hearings, most recently during a Sept. 6 hearing on perfluorinated chemicals.
The breadth of companies affected by chemical policy includes major chemical manufacturers such as BASF Corp. and DowDuPont Inc. as well as automobile, aircraft, and information technology companies like Tesla Inc., Boeing Co., and the Intel Corp., all of which have weighed in on recent chemical regulations either directly or through trade groups.
Hearing StrategiesThe new House will likely hold oversight hearings on many environmental issues, with a particular interest in TSCA, because that law was just overhauled in 2016, Stephen Owens, a partner with Squire Patton Boggs LLP’s Phoenix office, told Bloomberg Environment.
Lawmakers “spent a lot of time working on it when the legislation was going through,” said Owens, who testified before Congress about the chemicals law while serving as the EPA’s assistant administrator for chemical safety and pollution prevention under President Obama. “They have a lot of sweat equity invested.”
As the majority party, Democrats next year will enjoy powers they don’t have for the remainder of this Congress, said Owens, who also served as counsel to a House Science and Technology oversight subcommittee in the early 1980s.
If the agency isn’t responsive to initial requests, Democrats can now subpoena information, Owens said. If committees have reason to believe the agency hasn’t fully disclosed information it should have, Democrats will be able to have EPA witnesses testify under oath, he said.
“Initially, they may try to be more collegial, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they do that for some higher profile issues,” Owens said.
Broader SupportOwens, Liz Hitchcock, acting director of Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, and Joanna Slaney, legislative director for health at the Environmental Defense Fund, said a wealth of chemical issues could be fodder for hearings.
Any of the issues environmental groups have teed up in their lawsuits challenging three agency rules could be subjects, Owens said.
Those lawsuits challenge the EPA’s approach to selecting chemicals for risk assessment, its conduct of those risk analyses, and its alleged failure to ensure that the public has as much access to chemical information as the law requires.
The American Chemistry Council, which represents most of the U.S. chemical manufacturing industry, also welcomes oversight hearings, it said in a statement provided to Bloomberg Environment.
“Congress should continue to exercise its oversight responsibilities to help ensure the law is being implemented as intended,” the chemistry council said.
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EPA Issues TSCA ‘Not Likely’ Findings For Four Substances
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA has determined that four substances are unlikely to pose an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment, after their evaluation under the TSCA new chemicals programme.
These TSCA 5(a)(C)(3) findings will allow the substances to come to market without restriction. The EPA’s determinations note that, while all four substances could potentially be very persistent, all have low potential for bioaccumulation, so repeated exposures are not expected to be cumulative.
The findings were issued on 30 October for three substances, and on 2 November for the other.P-18-0233
Based on TSCA’s chemical category for polycationic polymers and test data for potential metabolites, the EPA determined that the substance – used in processing and as a coating agent – is ‘not likely’ to present an unreasonable risk to human or environmental health.
The evaluation looked at lung effects based on cationic binding, and systemic, reproductive and developmental toxicity. But it said that worker exposures could be controlled with personal protective equipment (PPE) and it did not identify unreasonable risks to the public or consumers. P-18-0224 and P-18-0225
These substances, evaluated together, both are intended to be imported for use as a component of ink. The EPA estimates that they had low environmental hazard, but the potential for the following human health effects: lung overload, carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity and developmental toxicity.
However, the risk determination did not identify unreasonable risk to workers under the evaluated conditions of use, and no anticipated consumer exposure.P-18-0030
The substance is intended for use as an acrylate resin for UV-curable industrial coatings.
Based on EPA’s chemical category for acrylates and methacrylates, and test data on analogous chemical substances, the risk assessment highlighted potential human health concerns, including eye and skin irritation, sensitisation, and developmental, liver and kidney toxicities. But it said worker concerns could be addressed through PPE, and it did not identify unreasonable risk to the general public or consumers.
The agency therefore determined that the substance is ‘not likely’ to present an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment under the conditions of use presented in the PMN.
https://chemicalwatch.com/71749/epa-issues-tsca-not-likely-findings-for-four-substances
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EPA Pressed To Use 'Discretionary' TSCA Authority To Address PFASs
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
Members of the consumer advocacy community are urging the US EPA to use its discretionary authority under TSCA to address what some describe as a ‘PFAS crisis’, attendees at the Chemical Watch US Regulatory Summit have heard.
Recent months have seen unprecedented focus on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), amid concern over the substances’ potential health impacts and their widespread prevalence in humans and the environment. The EPA has responded to these concerns by launching a PFAS action plan and holding community engagement events across the country.
But while most of the agency’s efforts have focused on developing drinking water limits or cleaning up legacy substances, Eve Gartner, an attorney with the environmental law nonprofit Earthjustice, said that there is an "important opportunity to see if TSCA can be an effective tool in the process".
Much of the focus on TSCA has been on how the EPA implements the mandated amendments to the law, Ms Gartner told delegates at the Arlington, Virginia meeting, while speaking on a panel of stakeholders about the reformed law.
But, she said that it is "critically important to look at how EPA is using its discretionary TSCA authority to address emergent situations involving potentially toxic substances".
For example, Ms Gartner suggested that the agency uses its Section 4 authorities to require additional testing, to "ensure that the public and other regulators have more information on the specific PFAS chemicals that are being identified in drinking water but for which we now have few or no health studies".
She also asked whether the EPA would commit to requiring that all new PFASs be subject to a full pre-manufacture notice (PMN) review, and not be allowed to come to market through a Section 5 exemption, such as a research and development or test-market exemption (TME).
And she pressed the agency to "close the door" on the use of long-chain chemistries that have been largely abandoned domestically, by blocking the import of "all articles, including recycled articles coming into this country, that contain PFOA or PFOS".
The US EPA told Chemical Watch that it conducts full assessments of chemicals submitted under exemption applications to determine whether the chemicals will present an unreasonable risk of injury to human health and the environment. The assessment process is the same as that used to evaluate PMNs and significant new use notices (Snuns), it added, with the distinction that the substances must be manufactured in accordance with the exemption's parameters and with the specific uses, controls and site locations described in the exemption notice.
The agency has also acted to address articles containing PFASs through the use of significant new use rules (Snurs). In 2013, it finalised a Snur that requires notice and review before manufacturers (including importers) of carpets treated with certain PFAS chemicals could commence those activities.
In 2015, the EPA proposed a Snur for PFOA and PFOA-related chemicals, including as part of articles, but that rule has not yet been finalised.
https://chemicalwatch.com/71712/epa-pressed-to-use-discretionary-tsca-authority-to-address-pfass
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(ACC Mentioned) 'Moderate Evidence' Linking DINP To Male Reproductive Effects
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Dr Emma Davies
There is "moderate evidence" that the phthalate DINP may cause male reproductive effects at levels seen in human populations, according to a systematic literature review led by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
DINP is widely used as a replacement for DEHP, which is a substance of very high concern (SVHC) under REACH.
The review team was led by Elizabeth Radke from the EPA and included researchers from Brown University and the University of Michigan. They focused on six phthalates: DEHP, DINP, DBP, DIBP, BBP and DEP.
Despite some "inconsistencies", they found "robust evidence" of an association between exposure to DEHP or DBP and male reproductive outcomes. For DINP and BBP the equivalent evidence was "moderate", and for DIBP and DEP "slight".
The team suggest that the differing evidence levels may result from the fact that DEHP and DBP had the largest number of studies in the review. "While it is possible there are differences in potency or activity" for the pairs of phthalates, the researchers suspect that the review's "inadequate sensitivity" for DINP, BBP and DIBP may explain the results.
"It would be inappropriate to conclude that substituting DINP for DEHP or DIBP for DBP would be health protective," they write in Environment International.
For DINP, evidence of an association between exposure and male reproductive outcomes was based primarily on studies of testosterone and semen parameters. For DEHP, evidence came from data on anogenital distance, semen, and testosterone.
The review team plans a 2019 editorial looking at issues that apply to all phthalate studies, such as correlations across phthalates.DINP increasingly detected
Meanwhile, in a technical report in Pediatrics, a team led by Leonardo Trasande from New York University, US, has drawn attention to DEHP's replacement by DIDP and DINP, which it says are "increasingly detected within the population".
The researchers highlight data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (Nhanes), which indicate that DIDP and DINP have been detected in 94% and 98% of the population, respectively. They suggest that the chemicals are widely identified as food contaminants and cite cross-sectional Nhanes data correlating their metabolites with insulin resistance.
In a blog response, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) has pointed out that "general purpose" plasticisers such as DINP are "only cleared for a narrow range of food contact applications, specifically at temperatures not exceeding room temperature". Such plasticisers are "unlikely" to be present in microwaveable food contact articles, it adds.
The blog points out that DINP and DIDP are "two of the most studied phthalates and have been evaluated by multiple regulatory agencies over the past 20 years". Regulatory agencies "continue to affirm that DINP and DIDP are safe in all current applications and do not pose a dietary concern to the general public via exposure in food packaging", it concludes.
In March 2018, Echa's Risk Assessment Committee (Rac) rejected Denmark's proposal to classify DINP as a category 1B reproductive toxicant. Speech delay from banned phthalates
Compounding the concerns about phthalates, independent studies of 1333 mother–child pairs suggest that exposure to certain phthalates during the first trimester of pregnancy is "significantly" associated with language delay in pre-school children.
The results come from the Swedish Environmental Longitudinal Mother and Child, Asthma and Allergy (SELMA) study conducted in prenatal clinics throughout Värmland county in Sweden and the Infant Development and the Environment Study (TIDES) conducted in the US.
Researchers measured urinary levels of the phthalates DBP and BBP during pregnancy. When the children reached the age of three, parents answered questionnaires on word comprehension.
The researchers, who were led by Carl-Gustaf Bornehag from Karlstad University in Sweden, were "surprised" to find that the results from the two countries were very similar.
Like DEHP, DBP and BBP are SVHCs under REACH and require authorisation before use. The European Commission is amending the authorisation list entries to cover endocrine disrupting properties with effects on human health, as well as reproductive effects.
https://chemicalwatch.com/71733/moderate-evidence-linking-dinp-to-male-reproductive-effects
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US Midterm Elections ‘An Opportunity’ For State-Level Chemical Advocacy
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Lisa Martine Jenkins
A US NGO focused on state-level chemicals policy sees the results of this week's midterm elections as "an opportunity" for reduced gridlock and increased action on substances of concern.
Tuesday night saw Democrats expand their control not only in the federal House of Representatives, but also in state legislative and gubernatorial races nationwide (see box).
And with much of the current motion on chemical regulation taking place on the state level, these new – and newly consolidated, with both chambers holding majorities of the same party in all cases but Minnesota – state legislatures are being eyed by consumer and environmental advocates.
Gretchen Salter, interim director of the NGO Safer States, told Chemical Watch that the advocacy community sees the state-level election results as an opportunity. New legislators will be looking for information on the more complicated aspects of chemicals policy, and this is a chance for stakeholders to educate new legislators on both sides of aisle, she said.
Broadly speaking, Democrats tend to have a greater appetite for environmental protection legislation. And while the support for many proposed state chemical regulations has been bipartisan in recent years, having unified majorities across both chambers tends to allow legislation to move forward with less friction.
Ms Salter highlighted Maine, Michigan and Minnesota as states where activity could be reignited. These states used to do more in the chemical regulation space, before their recent political gridlock, she said.
In Maine, for example, Democrat Janet Mills is projected to replace Republican Paul LePage as governor.
Mr LePage made headlines in 2017 when he vetoed a measure (LD 182) prohibiting the use of chemical flame retardants in upholstered furniture. It was only after the state’s Democratic House and then-Republican Senate cooperated to override his veto that the law moved forward.
After Tuesday’s elections, however, both chambers of the legislature are in Democratic control.‘Voting on PFAS policy’
Ms Salter also pointed out that chemical issues are becoming an influencing factor in voting decisions, which should lead to increased activity from those who campaigned on those issues.
In both North Carolina and Michigan, for instance, PFAS contamination became a talking point on the campaign trail for some state-level candidates.
GenX and other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have become a major campaign issue, she said. "We're expecting to see some movement on this issue because people are beginning to vote on PFAS policy."
PFASs have remained in the spotlight throughout the year at both the state and federal level, attracting focus from both sides of the aisle.
Two bills to restrict PFASs, for instance, even have bipartisan support in the more polarised federal Congress. Many states that have passed PFAS restrictions have done so with help from both parties.State power shifts
After the 6 November midterm elections, Republicans hold the majority across both chambers in 30 legislatures, whereas Democrats control 18. They each controlled 31 and 14 before the elections, respectively.
Legislatures have seen a change in power in six states; in all but one of these, the change favoured Democrats:New Hampshire: both the House and the Senate flipped from Republican to Democrat, although the governorship remains with a Republican;Colorado: the House flipped from Republican to Democrat;New York: the Senate flipped from Republican to Democrat (though it was previously controlled by a minority-led coalition);Maine: the Senate flipped from Republican to Democrat;Connecticut: the Senate flipped from Republican to Democrat;Minnesota: the House flipped from Republican to Democrat (making it the only state in the US with a split legislature); andAlaska: the House flipped from Democrat to Republican.
This rise of Democratic power on the state-level was mirrored by the races for governor. While the Republicans still hold more gubernatorial seats than the Democrats, six flipped from Republican to Democrat: Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Wisconsin and Nevada.
The more active states when it comes to chemical regulation – such as California and Washington State – saw no significant shifts of power. California has a new governor: Gavin Newsom, who, like his predecessor Jerry Brown, is a Democrat.
https://chemicalwatch.com/71717/us-midterm-elections-an-opportunity-for-state-level-chemical-advocacy
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ACI, HCPA Say They Have Sued New York Over Disclosure Policy
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Leigh Stringer
Trade bodies urge state to retract requirements
Two US trade associations say they have filed a lawsuit opposing New York’s cleaning products ingredient disclosure policy.
The policy, which came into force in June, requires manufacturers to list on their websites intentionally added ingredients in products by 1 July 2019.
Fragrance and nonfunctional ingredients – such as byproducts and contaminants – must be disclosed by 1 July 2020.
In a joint statement sent to Chemical Watch, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) and the Household and Commercial Products Association (HCPA) called on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to retract its policy.
The statement, written by the HCPA’s Steve Caldeira and the ACI’s Melissa Hockstad, the associations' presidents and CEOs, says the NYSDEC has "refused to work with affected stakeholders, violated important administrative procedure and exceeded its regulatory authority".
The trade associations declined to provide further details on their claims against the NYSDEC "at this time".
However, the statement says that because of these "violations" there is "no recourse other than to file a lawsuit." It adds that the policy is "unworkable and impractical".
In June, the HCPA announced that it was considering litigation because of the NYSDEC’s decision to move forward with the policy "unilaterally".
It said at the time that it "leaves industry no choice but to consider all options, including litigation, to address the significant issues with this flawed guidance".
The NYSDEC did not respond to Chemical Watch’s request for comment on the lawsuit by the time of publishing.'Stark contrast'
The statement adds that the policy is "in stark contrast" to California’s Cleaning Product Right to Know Act. It says the California legislature took a "comprehensive and transparent" approach to ingredient communication.
The Act, approved last year, will require manufacturers to disclose intentionally added ingredients online by 1 January 2020. But the states’ policies differ in several ways, including around which impurities and contaminants must be reported.
"[California’s Act] is a carefully crafted compromise developed through intense NGO-industry stakeholder negotiations and generated an unprecedented coalition of support made up of over 100 organisations and corporations ranging from breast cancer prevention and clean water advocates to janitors and domestic workers to some of the world’s largest multinational cleaning product companies," the statement says.National model
A consistent national model for ingredient communication is needed, the statement stresses.
"We respectfully urge the NYSDEC to retract this unworkable regulation and to work with all stakeholders towards our shared goal of safeguarding consumers and workers with responsible and understandable ingredient communication solutions."
Last month, US NGO, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP), called for federally mandated ingredient disclosure and tighter voluntary chemicals management policies on fragrances in personal care and cleaning products.
In January, NGO the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) said retailers and brands in the household cleaning and personal care sectors took major steps towards public ingredient disclosure in 2017.
Many businesses have launched policies to increase ingredient transparency in products, including Proctor & Gamble, SC Johnson, The Clorox Company and Unilever.https://chemicalwatch.com/71716/aci-hcpa-say-they-have-sued-new-york-over-disclosure-policy
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Future Uncertain For Prop 65 'Short-Form' Warnings
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) may be taking a closer look at when ‘short-form’ warnings can be used to satisfy Proposition 65 requirements, and there is "no guarantee" that they will remain a compliance alternative in many future cases, delegates at Chemical Watch’s US Regulatory Summit have heard.
California’s Prop 65 disclosure law was a focus of discussion during a session on US state-level actions, as recent amendments take effect on how ‘clear and reasonable’ warning must be provided to people exposed to any of the some-900 substances listed under the scheme.
The new requirements have sparked compliance confusion among the regulated community, specifically around aspects such as needing to name a specific substance for which warning is being provided.
Many companies have opted to use a 'short-form' warning directly on products, which carries labelling requirements but does not mandate that a specific substance be included. Oehha says it had intended this alternative to be used for small products or where space was limited, but it did not expressly prohibit its use on larger products, according to guidance posted on its site.
However, George Gigounas, a partner with law firm DLA Piper, told attendees at the Arlington, Virginia conference that this provision’s continued flexibility is being questioned.
Currently, "there are no explicit restrictions on the use of the short-form warning versus long-form – namely, the short-form warning is not restricted to small products or packages of certain sizes," apart from a few specific exceptions, Mr Gigounas told Chemical Watch following the conference.
But he said that businesses should take note that Oehha "appears to be examining the issue".
"There is no guarantee that the short-form warning will remain restriction-free in this regard in the future," he added.
Sam Delson, a spokesperson for Oehha, confirmed to Chemical Watch that the agency is "looking into use of this provision, but we have not made any decisions".
"Any regulatory revisions are conducted in accordance with the California Administrative Procedures Act, which requires opportunities for public comment and input," he added.
Mr Gigounas said that if Oehha does place any restrictions on when the ‘short-form’ warning may be used, it is "safe to say they would apply prospectively, not retroactively.
"Businesses would have time to assess potential changes before they came into effect," he added.
https://chemicalwatch.com/71711/future-uncertain-for-prop-65-short-form-warnings
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Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch - Brief
By Dr Andrew Warmington
The perennial image of animal testing on cosmetics features heavily in the Briefing this month, though from radically different perspectives. A paper by Michael Maynard of small cosmetics firm Beautycounter, on which I report on pages 10-11, highlights the multiple challenges developers of cosmetic ingredients must face in terms of hazard, safety and risk assessment, and the tools available to them. The backcloth is the disappearance of animal testing as an option.
Dr Maynard is from the US but he was quite clear that the EU is in the driving seat on this. Furthermore, he says, what the EU does today, many other countries will do tomorrow. Non-animal testing regulations are taking effect and testing and marketing bans exist in many jurisdictions outside Europe.
Whatever regulators may say or do, this is ultimately driven by consumers. The list of what they want in their cosmetics is long and sometimes contradictory, and tthis combined with the prohibition on animal testing does not always make life easy for the industry and its suppliers, but that is the reality. The default option is changing and we must adapt to it, Dr Maynard says.
There is quite a contrast, then, with our NGO platform article by Dr Katy Taylor of Cruelty Free International (pages 17-18). She likewise sees the 2013 ban, not just on animal testing now, but the sale in Europe of cosmetics that had been tested on animals elsewhere, as a case of the EU leading the way in response to deep public concern in a way that has not harmed the industry or its suppliers.
However, Dr Taylor contends, actions taken since then by the European Commission and Echa, among others, have weakened the effect of the bans. Her key point is this: legalistic interpretations of the rules are undermining the spirit of the law, whose purpose was totally clear, although some impending decisions by the Board of Appeal may hopefully clarify the situation.
For more on the importance of the ‘spirit of the law’, I would also point you towards one of our Guest Column articles by Mark Selby of Denehurst Chemical Safety (pages 21-22). It is a timely reminder of the need to keep in mind the interconnected nature of legislation and the intentions behind it. As Mr Selby says, we need to remember why we do all this and not to get stuck in a box-ticking exercise. Often, the short regulations with few details in them are the most important.
We hope you enjoy reading the Briefing and value your feedback.
https://chemicalwatch.com/71740/spirit-of-the-law
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Canadian Draft Assessment Finds Cancer Risk With Cosmetics Colourant
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Andrew Turley
Solvent violet 13, a colourant found in a wide range of consumer products including cosmetics and toys, is harmful to human health at current levels of exposure, according to a draft conclusion from the Canadian government.
If confirmed, the conclusion would most likely trigger risk management measures against the substance. However, industry says that the assessment does not take into account the most recent toxicity data available in the solvent violet 13 REACH registration dossier.
The government published a draft screening assessment of seven anthraquinone substances on 3 November. The substances are used as colourants in: cosmetics, food packaging materials, children's arts and crafts materials, toys, do-it-yourself products, and textiles.
The seven substances were originally part of a group of 15 anthraquinones prioritised under the Chemicals Management Plan. The government previously assessed eight of the 15 and found that they were of low concern.
The remaining seven are:solvent violet 13;pigment blue 60;solvent violet 59;solvent blue 36;disperse red 60;acid blue 239; and"9,10-Anthracenedione, 1,4-diamino-, N,N'-mixed 2-ethylhexyl", including methyl- and pentyl- derivatives.
The draft screening assessment of these substances used read-across for the human health hazards owing to a scarcity of health effects data.
It found a potential to cause carcinogenicity for all apart from pigment blue 60 and potential to cause adverse developmental effects for solvent violet 13 and solvent blue 36.
Using carcinogenicity as the critical effect, the assessment concluded that pigment blue 60 meets one of the criteria in section 64 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (Cepa).
The assessment used the "ecological risk classification of organic substances" approach to predicting the environmental risks, which was published in 2016 by Environment and Climate Change Canada. This led to the conclusion that all seven substances represented low risk of harm to the environment.Industry response
However, Dr Pierfrancesco Fois, deputy executive director at colourants trade association Etad, says that some of the data gaps identified in the assessment can be filled, reducing uncertainty in the risk characterisation.
For example, the assessment suggests that for solvent violet 13 there are no studies covering:in vivo genotoxicity;developmental or reproductive toxicity; orrepeated-dose or chronic animal studies for oral exposure.
However, Dr Fois says that the solvent violet 13 REACH registration dossier contains data for:an in vivo micronucleus test showing no mutagenicity;a reproductive toxicity test via oral route; anda repeated dose toxicity test, via oral route.
"Similar additional information exists for other substances in the list," he says. "If we can eliminate, or at least minimise, these sources of uncertainty, we will have an assessment which reflects better the properties of the single substances … Until this process is completed, it is too early for drawing any conclusion on the risk of solvent violet 13."
The government has started a 60-day public consultation, which closes on 2 January.
https://chemicalwatch.com/71732/canadian-draft-assessment-finds-cancer-risk-with-cosmetics-colourant
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Canada Clears 72 Substances, Proposes Snacs On 2 Others
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The Canadian government has concluded that 72 substances do not pose a threat to human health or the environment, according to a final screening assessment. It has also moved to impose significant new activity (Snac) provisions on two additional substances assessed in the grouping.
The final determination follows a draft assessment issued in June 2017. The substances were grouped together after the government conducted two large-scale risk assessments on hundreds of substances, one covering human health and the other addressing ecological concerns.
The 74 substances addressed in the recently finalised assessment represent the subset meeting ‘low hazard’ criteria in both of the broader assessments.
The final assessment upholds the draft conclusion that 72 of the substances do not meet section 64 criteria of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (Cepa). The government is therefore proposing no further action on these.
The remaining two substances – ethane, 1,1′-oxybis[2-methoxy- (diglyme) and 2,5,8,11-tetraoxadodecane (triglyme) – are considered to have human health effects of concern. The government says there are suspicions that new activities that have not been identified or assessed could lead to their meeting Cepa toxicity criteria.
Consequently, it intends to apply Snac provisions to both substances to require government notification before any such new uses are undertaken.
There is a 60-day comment period on the proposed Snacs.
https://chemicalwatch.com/71751/canada-clears-72-substances-proposes-snacs-on-2-others
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ECHA Plans Increased Scrutiny Of REACH Dossier 'Opt-Outs'
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
Echa will manually check all new REACH registrations with 'opt-outs' from joint data submissions from 1 December, as part of efforts to increase scrutiny of such dossiers for completeness and compliance.
Under the regulation, companies choosing to opt out of data submitted jointly with co-registrants are required to provide "a proper justification" for the substance registration to be considered complete.
This is to see if companies provide a "justifiable reason" in cases where they want to submit their own data or when they have a dispute about access to data.
But a decision by Echa's Board of Appeal (BoA) in March concerning a dispute over a joint registration for charcoal prompted Echa to start inspecting opt-out justifications manually, a spokesperson told Chemical Watch.
In the charcoal case, the BoA concluded that if a registrant decides to rely on a ‘complete opt-out’ and informs Echa and the lead registrant accordingly, the registrant cannot be prevented from making its separate submission part of the joint dossier and Echa must grant it access to the joint registration.
A complete opt-out requires "heightened scrutiny", the BoA said, and Echa must "conduct a thorough completeness check of opt-out dossiers and prioritise them for a compliance check".‘Token’
Following the BoA recommendation, Echa changed its procedures on 17 May, providing a 'token' to access the joint submission to all registrants with full opt-outs and manually checking their justifications. Dossiers with full opt-outs are subject to the same level of completeness as the lead registrant dossier, Echa said.
From December however, the agency will manually check all new registrations with opt-out information, whether they are for a complete or partial opt-out. It estimates one percent of new registrations will have an opt-out.
The move follows a major revamp of REACH dossier compliance processes to improve data quality, announced by Echa in September. From January, it will send draft evaluation decisions to all registrants of a non-compliant dossier, not just the lead registrants.Manual checks
To help registrants provide complete opt-out justifications for manual checks, Echa has developed templates in the latest version of Iuclid 6 software.
Registrants are advised to run the 'validation assistant' on their data before submitting their dossiers, the agency said.
If a justification is not complete, the registrant will fail the completeness check and will be given a deadline for providing the missing information. If it fails to do that, Echa added, the registration will be rejected.Earlier results
Of 91,536 REACH registrations Echa has received so far, those with opt-outs have totalled 853, representing just less than one percent. Echa has manually checked 71 opt-outs since May.
In the majority of the cases – 61 so far – the opt-out justification has been that it is "disproportionately costly to submit the information jointly". The second most common reason has been "disagreement on the selection of the information", stated in 10 dossiers.
There have been no justifications based on "disclosure of commercially sensitive information likely to cause substantial commercial detriment".
https://chemicalwatch.com/71738/echa-plans-increased-scrutiny-of-reach-dossier-opt-outs
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UK Scientists Give Vanadium Contamination Warning
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
A group of UK-based scientists has called for improvements in the risk assessment of the element vanadium as an environmental contaminant, describing emerging sources as a "growing problem requiring wide-scale intervention".
The rate of its release is increasing, leading to accumulation in the environment and increased likelihood of acute exposure, the scientists say.
Vanadium can disperse and persist in the environment to a greater degree than other contaminants, such as arsenic or phosphorus.
"The element also exhibits multiple interactions within surface environments including complexing to organic and inorganic matter in sediments and uptake into flora and fauna," they say.
However, our understanding of the geochemistry of the element remains "relatively poor" compared with other contaminants.
The scientists are affiliated with state-funded research organisation CEH, charity the Craigencalt Rural Community Trust and five UK universities.
They describe vanadium as "long confined to the annals of regulatory history" following the reduction of emissions from certain types of fossil fuels in the 1970s.
However, global production of the element has doubled in the past 15 years, driven by demand for high grade steel, they say in Environmental Science & Technology.
Additionally, production is expected to increase further with development and commercialisation of vanadium "redox flow" batteries, prized for their ability to charge and discharge simultaneously. It is not clear from the article which forms or compounds are most problematic.
The scientists call on industry to produce best practice guidance on the management of vanadium-contaminated wastes to reduce the likelihood of uncontrolled discharges.
https://chemicalwatch.com/71715/uk-scientists-give-vanadium-contamination-warning
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Annex VIII: Theory And Practice
Nov 8, 2018 | Chemcial Watch - Brief
By Dr Andrew Warmington
With just over a year until the first deadline, how is the new harmonised system for poison centre information shaping up?
The halfway point has passed between the publication in March 2017 of Annex VIII of the classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) Regulation, which seeks to harmonise the information industry provides to national poison centres about the mixtures it puts on the European Economic Area (EEA) market, and the first of three deadlines for registration on 1 January 2020. But how well is the transition working out in practice?
Stakeholders have been working with Echa since the first stakeholder workshop in 2010 and they continue to hold regular meetings on key issues. Jan Robinson, director of product regulations at CEPE, the European council of the paint, printing inks and artists’ colours industry, and chair of the Downstream Users of Chemicals Coordination group (Ducc), says that industry supports harmonisation because it will:improve poison centres’ ability to react to incidents;reduce the administrative burden of placing products on the market in multiple member states; and help generate European-level statistics about products involved in incidents and thus where risk management measures are needed.
"We have been on board with the goal of getting a workable and proportionate system and to give the European Commission and then Echa the view from industry about what will work, the reality of the product and what they need to know from our side," she says. However, the requirements industry is now facing are "quite complex and and we see quite some challenges to be ready on time by the end of next year".
Annex VIII runs to ten pages and explains Article 45 of CLP Regulation, which itself is only ten lines long. Individual member states have implemented it in different ways, causing burdens on industry. Not everything harmonised
Daniel Sompolski, scientific officer at Echa, stresses that the annex harmonises the information requirements and the data format but not the submission process. Echa will run a central system to send notifications to member states but individual states’ systems may continue in parallel. The notification requirements will apply to mixtures classified for health and physical hazards, but not those which are classified only for environmental hazards.
At present, says Mr Sompolski, the ‘duty holders’ with notification obligations are the importers and downstream users, including (toll) formulators and repackagers. Distributors, including relabellers, rebranders and retailers, "are a grey area". There have been recent discussions in Caracal, the meeting of the competent authorities for REACH and the CLP, about whether obligations should extend to them too. For now, the feeling is that they should not, but this may change, he says.
Exempting distributors, Ms Robinson notes, makes it hard to capture information when a product is rebranded by a company with no obligation to submit information. Some member states want to redefine rebranders as downstream users "but this has huge ramifications for the rest of REACH and CLP".
The Commission aims to solve this problem by either naming the original formulator as a duty holder and requiring information to be passed back up the supply chain or to have distributors commit to a contractual arrangement to perform the submission for the rebranded product.
"This seems the best option with the legal text we have, but it is unclear if it will work in long supply chains or if you can hold the original downstream user accountable if a distributor seven steps removed from it in the chain does not make a submission," says Ms Robinson.
"Notification is not a one-off task," says Mr Sompolski. "When products, packages or names change, the poison centres must be notified. You must have a valid notification at all times and updates must be made before product is changed."
Registration deadlines
Annex VIII envisages three registration deadlines for different mixtures, defined by end use:1 January 2020 for consumer uses;1 January 2021 for industrial uses; and1 January 2024 for consumer uses.
A transition period will then run to 1 January 2025. Until then, any notifications made under the old system to national authorities will remain valid but any changes must be made in the new system. In practice, Mr Sompolski and Ms Robinson agree, the deadlines are not quite so straightforward. Because they are determined by end use, if a mixture intended for industrial use, say, ends up in someone else’s mixture for consumer use, the deadline changes accordingly.
"Most raw materials will probably be notified by default for the first deadline, because chemical producers can’t be sure their products won’t be used in consumer products," Ms Robinson says. This will mainly be an issue for chemical producers, she adds; downstream users may benefit from the existence of submissions for the mixtures they use.
Limited submission is possible for industrial use-only formulations, in which only safety data sheet (SDS) information is required, Ms Robinson adds. The trade-off is the need for a 24/7 phone number, so that poison centres can get information in an emergency. "Not every company can do this, certainly not in all the local languages in every country where their mixtures are marketed. So some large CEPE members have said that they may go for the full submission anyway – which may surprise the poison centres."
Handling UFI requirements
There are four elements in the standard information requirements, Mr Sompolski notes:submitter details;mixture information, such as hazard classification, toxicological information, pH and colour;the unique formula identifier (UFI);product information, notably the packaging type.
Some of the details, particularly in the first category, are very basic, but there are also some entirely new requirements within them, such as full composition information and especially the UFI. This is a 16-character code linking the product on the market to information submitted about it. It informs poison centres what composition is behind the mixture, thus getting rapid information to them in an emergency while still protecting confidential business information (CBI).
Annex VIII requires the UFI to be placed on the label of the mixture and discussions are ongoing about whether it could be placed on the packaging instead. The Commission, says Ms Robinson, "is trying to find the right wording to clarify this without causing unforeseen problems".
On industrial formulations and those without a package, she and Mr Sompolski agree, the UFI could be on the SDS, "but on other mixtures, the UFI will change more often than the SDS and we don’t want to have to regenerate the SDS every couple of weeks. This also involves the ongoing amendment to the SDS rules set out in Annex II of REACH, so it is a complex matter," she says.
CEPE members have already been trying out Echa’s UFI generator, says Ms Robinson. This can only handle numeric codes, however, so internal alphanumeric formulation codes probably cannot be imported and a lot of fields are needed to store the information in the in-house IT system.
The workability issues are the most complex ones, in industry’s view. "The final requirements only crystallised very soon before the Regulation was adopted and several sectors began to see problems arising if they tried to apply them in practice,"
Ms Robinson said. These include: whether the same level of detail is needed for mixtures-in-mixtures (MIMs), especially if they do not end up in a mixture within the scope of CLP Article 45;which UFI goes into the submission when downstream users use similar materials interchangeably, like solvent blends from different suppliers that become a single raw material, plus how often it has to be updated; andhow to deal with mixtures like petroleum products and construction chemicals that are made to a specification rather than a recipe, and with inherent batch-to-batch variability which might exceed the concentration bands laid down in Annex VIII.
The Commission has appointed contractors to work on case studies in various sectors and the results should be out by the end of 2018 for a workshop in early 2019, then a final report to the Commission, which may then draft some amendments. However, this process is already running a year late and industry is concerned about them getting through in time for the first registration deadline.Portal coming soon
Echa, says Mr Sompolski, is developing the poison centres notification (PCN) portal for data submission. The first version will be launched in the beginning of 2019, allowing simple receive-dispatch functionality. Version 2, with more advanced features, is due in Q4 2019, with at least one more to follow after the first notification deadline. In parallel, the agency has worked on a harmonised format, which structures the information companies have to submit. The first version of this was released in April and an ongoing validation pilot on the format has yielded 90-95% positive feedback.
Industry, Ms Robinson says, is fully supportive of the PNC portal but concerned that the most important functionality will only be available shortly before the deadline. Equally importantly, member states will not have to accept central submissions – although an informal survey has not found any that do not intend to – and will still have discretion to decide if they require anything else before permitting a mixture onto the market. This may include manual checks and fees to pay for the poison centres to operate. Since then, soaps and detergents industry association Aise has written to Caracal, asking for the first deadline to be postponed by a year, because none of the parties are ready to implement the changes in time.
"In early 2018 Ducc published a position paper that was used in Caracal discussions, saying that these were unacceptable threats to the success of implementation," says Ms Robinson. "We have since had some welcome clarification from the Commision about what is and isn’t in scope of Annex VIII. Member states can’t require additional information for the same purposes or ask for more than Annex VIII requires."
One means of addressing this particular issue is to have automated validation rules, so that the system automatically tells a submitter whether or not his dossier is acceptable. A working group was formed this summer between the Commision, Echa, poison centres and other industry stakeholders and is now seeking to get these rules ready for the PNC portal, Ms Robinson says."The requirements of Annex VIII are certainly not perfect and some of the issues in it make it difficult or even impossible to comply in some cases" Jan Robinson, CEPE
A longer-term worry is that only 43% of the appointed bodies and poison centres expect to be ready to accept submissions before the first deadline, she adds. Some companies fear submissions stopping dead and their mixtures being left in legal limbo. "It is really important that the validation rules don’t go beyond the legal text and block submissions that are legally valid, even if they are not technically perfect," Ms Robinson says.
Industry has also been involved in developing the product categorisation manual for Annex VIII and Ms Robinson thinks the system is fit for purpose. Ducc wants to keep the number of categories to a minimum, especially in sectors with a low number of poisoning cases, as this can confuse the statistics. It will be testing the categories as part of the portal pilot. There is a fine balance to be struck, in her view, between too much and too little.
"We want the system to be stable so as to avoid knock-on effects on existing submissions, but do want to be able to update for, say, new technology in mixtures and new product categories," she says. "We will certainly need additional sector-specific guides for industry – the general support guide alone won’t be enough to tell all CEPE members which category of coating should go into which poison centre category. We will probably work on that next year."
Echa has created a whole new website about poison centres, in partnership with stakeholders. This takes users through seven steps from knowing your obligation to submitting data, says Mr Sompolski, and it contains many other resources. The agency is also developing a 90-page guidance document.
It has completed consultation and is now processing the data it received from member states. Mr Sompolski hopes that this will be adopted at November’s Caracal meeting and finalised by the end of the year – albeit, says Ms Robinson, that it will probably have a lot of footnotes about potential amendments in the light of future Caracal discussions.
"The requirements of Annex VIII are certainly not perfect and some of the issues in it make it difficult or even impossible to comply in some cases," she concludes. Ducc would like to see issues fixed by legal amendments to the text before the first registration deadline.
However with European elections and a new Commission and a complete stop on legislation in Brussels from March to July 2019, this could be a big ask. "We have supported harmonisation and still do, but what we have now is complex and hard to implement. There is much left to do and less than 15 months left," Ms Robinson says.
https://chemicalwatch.com/71739/annex-viii-theory-and-practice
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Cheniere Posts Small Profit As Sabine, Corpus LNG Expansions Continue
Nov 8, 2018 | Chron
By Jordan Blum
Liquefied natural gas pioneer Cheniere Energy said Thursday it reported a $65 million profit in the third quarter as the expansions continue at its LNG export facilities in Louisiana and Texas.
Houston-based Cheniere's gain compares to a $289 million loss a year ago. Cheniere's revenues jumped 30 percent from last year up to $1.82 billion.
Cheniere said its fifth LNG processing facility, called a train, at its Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana by the Texas border is expected to come online in the first quarter of 2019. Cheniere said it contracted with California-based Bechtel Corp. to handle the engineering and construction on a planned sixth train there.
Cheniere said its Corpus Christi LNG export terminal is expected to commence commercial operations in early 2019 when the first train comes online. The second train is slated for startup in the second half of 2019. And a third train won't be completed until the back half of 2021.
"As we look forward to 2019, we expect to build upon our reputation of superior execution by placing Corpus Christi trains one and two and Sabine Pass train five into service safely, ahead of schedule, and within budget, and continue to leverage our world-scale infrastructure position to commercialize and grow our LNG platform," said Cheniere Chief Executive Jack Fusco.
Although there's no timetable, Cheniere also is developing a project to build seven smaller, midsize trains in Corpus Christi as well.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Cheniere-posts-small-profit-as-Sabine-Corpus-LNG-13374525.php
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Delaware Sues EPA Over Interstate Ozone Petition Denial
Nov 8, 2018 | Inside EPA
Delaware is joining Maryland and environmental groups in suing EPA over the agency's denial of Clean Air Act petitions filed by the two states, which asked for direct federal regulation of power plants in upwind states contributing to elevated ozone levels on the East Coast that hinder the states' attainment of ambient air standards.
In a suit filed Nov. 5 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Delaware contests the agency's Oct. 5 denial of the state's four petitions to regulate ozone-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from power plants in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The state petitioned EPA under Clean Air Act section 126 to limit the pollution, which Delaware says is compromising its ability to meet national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone.
The lawsuit is the “next, best step” the state can take, said Delaware Secretary of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Shawn Garvin Nov. 7. “We strongly believe” that EPA must address cross-state air pollution in order to mitigate ozone problems in Delaware, Garvin said.
The D.C. Circuit has already consolidated that suit with challenges filed by Maryland and environmental groups, as State of Maryland v. EPA. Maryland's petition sought regulation of NOx from 36 electric generating units at power plants in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Environmental groups including Clean Air Council, Environmental Defense Fund and Sierra Club are supporting the two states in the suit.
EPA has rejected several such petitions from Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states preferring to rely instead on state implementation plans that states are required to craft to meet the air law's “good neighbor” obligation. EPA has proposed not to update its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) emissions trading program for power plants to meet the agency's tougher ozone NAAQS of 70 parts per billion (ppb), set in 2015. CSAPR will by 2023 have met its goal of helping states meet the weaker 2008 ozone NAAQS of 75 ppb, EPA predicts.
Northeastern states counter that EPA's projections are too optimistic, and agency action is not adequate to help states meet NAAQS by applicable attainment deadlines.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/delaware-sues-epa-over-interstate-ozone-petition-denial
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Democrats Said to Plan Revival of Climate Change Panel in House
Nov 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Ari Natter
Pelosi will push to reconstitute committee disbanded by GOP
Panel may give Democrats platform to scrutinize Trump policies
House Democrats are planning to resurrect a special committee focused on climate change, giving them a platform to spotlight an issue on which polls show President Donald Trump is out of step with the public.
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California will ask her colleagues to reconstitute the select committee, which was created under her watch 11 years ago and disbanded by Republicans after they took control of the House in January 2011. The plan was described by senior Democratic aides who asked not to be named before a formal announcement.
If lawmakers vote to resurrect the panel, it would give Democrats a chance to amplify concerns about climate change following a dire United Nations report as well as scrutinize the Trump administration’s approach to the issue.
In its previous iteration, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was not authorized to advance its own bills, but it still used dozens of hearings to emphasize Democratic priorities, evaluating advancements in renewable power and the consequences of climate change. The panel’s work helped pave the way for broad legislation to create a cap-and-trade system for carbon dioxide emissions that passed the House in 2009 before faltering in the Senate.
“They can only do messaging,” said Anna Burhop, an environmental policy expert with Bracewell LLP. Although legislation on energy and climate issues falls to other House panels, “the select committee can have as many messaging hearings as their little hearts desire,” and use them to “address wildfires, hurricanes and sea level rise.”
Pelosi is expected to be re-elected House speaker, though she still could face a threat from younger Democrats eager for new leadership. Regardless of who takes the gavel, Democratic caucus members are likely to rally behind the recreation of the climate committee.
—With assistance from Erik Wasson and Eric Roston.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/democrats-said-to-plan-revival-of-climate-change-panel-in-house
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House Dems Plan To Bring Back Committee On Climate Change
Nov 8, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Avery Anapol
Democrats are reportedly planning to revive a House committee on climate change after winning back control of the House.
The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was dissolved by Republicans in 2011 after the GOP took control, but House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will ask Democrats to reconstitute it, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
The special committee, which was started by Pelosi, was not authorized to advance legislation, but the panel held hearings to address concerns about climate change, extreme weather events and global warming.
The report comes weeks after a United Nations climate change report predicting catastrophic consequences if the world doesn't cut emissions in an unprecedented way by 2030. President Trump originally said he would review the report, but appeared skeptical of its authors.
Earlier this week, Trump said that he has not seen the report, but disputed its findings anyway, repeating a past prediction that global warming will “change back.”
The Trump administration has faced significant criticism over its handling of climate issues, most notably the decision to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Accord.
Trump himself has acknowledged that human activity plays some role in global warming, but has also dismissed it as a “hoax” and said that it is not as dire as scientific consensus finds.
He has also moved to repeal a number of climate change policies, including the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, many of which were started under former President Obama.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/415723-house-dems-plan-to-bring-back-committee-on-climate-change
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EPA Skirts Court Decision In Ozone Implementation Rule
Nov 8, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
EPA has issued a long-awaited final implementation strategy for its 2015 ozone standard that touts regulatory flexibility but punts on key issues flagged by an appellate court ruling earlier this year.
The rule sets cleanup plan requirements for 22 states with areas that are in nonattainment for the 70 parts per billion standard, as well as the District of Columbia.
Those include timing deadlines, "reasonably available" technologies available to help meet the standard and yardsticks for showing progress. The regulations will take effect 60 days after they're published in the Federal Register.
The rule in many respects resembles the regulations that EPA is already using to implement the 2008 ozone standard of 75 ppb. It appears to go further, however, in underscoring EPA's efforts to give states options for meeting various requirements.
The new rule also avoids addressing the crux of the February ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In that ruling, a three-judge panel unanimously sided with environmental groups in vacating a part of the implementation rule for the 2008 standard that had in turn revoked an even earlier benchmark from 1997.
Two years ago, EPA had initially weighed a similar approach in the draft version of the implementation rule for the 2015 standard. Now, however, the agency intends to address revocation of the 2008 benchmark, as well as "any potential anti-backsliding requirements" in a separate proceeding at some point in the future, the final version indicates.
After acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler signed the final rule yesterday, it was posted online this morning.
Ozone, a lung irritant that's linked to asthma attacks in children, is produced by the reaction of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in sunlight. In addition to the 22 states with nonattainment areas, the new rule will apply to five other Northeastern states in the Ozone Transport Region, a congressionally formed compact whose members are already subject to added requirements for curbing releases of those ozone-forming pollutants.
Among other provisions, the final rule released today maintains EPA's existing approach toward evaluating the potential impact of ozone that wafts into the United States from other countries, according to an agency summary. It also discusses how to handle emissions from wildfires, so-called background ozone that's outside of regulators' direct control and other policies for curbing emissions, the fact sheet says.
The Obama-era EPA had set the 70 ppb standard three years ago after determining that the 2008 limit was not stringent enough to adequately protect public health. It then unveiled possible implementation strategies in late 2016 (E&E News PM, Nov. 2, 2016). Release of the final rule appears to have been delayed by the D.C. Circuit litigation. The Trump administration was also slow to complete the initial round of attainment designations for the 2015 standard.
But bringing problem areas into compliance typically takes years, meaning the agency is now charged with managing enforcement of two overlapping standards.
In a separate draft rule released yesterday, for example, EPA proposed downgrading the compliance status of Houston, New York City and five other metro areas for the 2008 ozone limit.
EPA currently uses a five-point scale to measure nonattainment that starts with marginal and then goes to moderate, serious, severe and extreme.
Those seven areas, which are collectively home to tens of millions of people, are currently ranked in "moderate" nonattainment for the 2008 standard. Since they failed to meet a compliance deadline earlier this year, EPA is now seeking to lower their status a notch to "serious" nonattainment. If made final, that proposal could lead to more stringent requirements to cut emissions of NOx and volatile organic compounds.
The same draft rule includes a tentative determination that Baltimore as well as Mariposa County, Calif., have met the 2008 standard. It also offers parts of Colorado and Wisconsin a one-year extension.
EPA air chief Bill Wehrum signed the proposed rule yesterday. It will carry a 30-day public comment period when published in the Federal Register; a public hearing will be held upon request.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/11/08/stories/1060105605
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