The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) is pleased to make available the results of a comprehensive review of the core federal environmental statutes to assess the suitability of each to address issues pertinent to human health and the environment arising from applications of nanotechnology. Earlier this year, the Section offered to brief representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of General Counsel (OGC) and pertinent other EPA representatives in EPA program offices on legal and regulatory issues arising in connection with the application of existing statutory and regulatory authorities to engineered nanoscale materials. Specifically, the Section offered to prepare detailed briefing documents on each of the six core environmental statutes, and a briefing document on innovative governance mechanisms, that identify key legal and regulatory issues EPA can be expected to encounter as it considers how best to address issues likely to arise in connection with nanotechnology.

Section Nanotechnology Project Home Page

Regulation of Nanoscale Materials under the Toxic Substances Control Act

The Adequacy of FIFRA to Regulate Nanotechnology-Based Pesticides

The Committee on Pesticides, Chemical Regulation, and Right-to-Know serves as the Section’s primary forum for discussing, monitoring, and engaging in federal, state, and international matters affecting pesticides, chemicals, right-to-know, and related chemical product-focused issues. The actions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are of key interest to the Committee, as are regulatory and legislative developments pertinent to federal chemical statutes such as the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Particularly this year, chemical regulatory initiatives in the European Union (EU) under the Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) will be critically important, and the Committee focuses extensively on its progress and its potential impact on domestic regulatory policy. Additionally, and keying off the success of the Section’s Nanotechnology Project, the Committee is engaging in a number of initiatives pertinent to nanotechnology.

Welcome to the Committee on Pesticides, Chemical Regulation, and Right-to-Know Homepage! The Committee is the premier forum for practitioners and interested parties nationwide involved in legal and policy issues related to pesticides, chemical regulation, and right-to-know issues.

Some of the legal issues that the Committee will consider this year include:

• Nanotechnology/Regulation of Engineered Nanoscale Materials — consideration of efforts to explore the necessity for government oversight of this emerging technology that blends issues of regulatory chemistry and micro-technologies.
• Human Testing Policy — examination and review of EPA’s policy on use of human subjects test data and the results of the Human Studies Review Board’s review of various human studies.
• Intellectual Property Rights and Pesticides — including expansion of data compensation to inert ingredients and copyright law issues in the context of pesticide labeling.
• Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Pesticides — how EPA is implementing decisions in ESA lawsuits concerning pesticide products and EPA’s consultation procedures for registration and reregistration decision-making.
• Protection of the Public Health — EPA’s efforts to test antimicrobial products and confirm their efficacy and take enforcement actions when failures occur.
• REACH — monitor the progress of the probable adoption of this new chemical review and approval program in the EU and assess its impact on domestic regulatory policy and possible TSCA reauthorization efforts.

Our membership includes lawyers who advise governments, non-governmental organizations, and companies of all sizes on issues ranging from pesticide tolerances in foods, antimicrobial products, the transport of dangerous goods, and chemical facility security. We encourage all interested practitioners to join us for the exciting time ahead. Join the committee.

The Committee has planned the following activities in 2006-2007:

• Pesticide Law Half-Day Meetings
  
  Vice Chair Ken Weinstein will continue to hold semi‑quarterly half-day meetings (typically in the Washington, D.C. area). The meetings will feature panel discussions and individual speakers and focus primarily on issues related to EPA’s regulation of pesticides under FIFRA, FQPA, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), including pesticide registration, reregistration, tolerance reassessment, data use and compensation, and enforcement.
  
• Chemical Regulation Meetings
  
  The EU’s growing interest in product regulation continues to influence domestic regulatory policy. The Committee will work with, among other potential candidates, the Standing Committee on Environmental Law, the International Law Section, and various Section Committees to convene either a half-day program or QT on product regulation in the EU and its influence on domestic regulatory policy.
  
• Additional Programs
  
  Other Committee Vice Chairs are considering holding brown bag seminars or potentially other half-day meetings to address (during separate meetings) new developments concerning:
  
  • Harmonization of European and U.S. chemical regulatory programs;
  • Legislative developments pertinent to TSCA and FIFRA, including TSCA reauthorization, Persistent Organic Pollutant ( POP) and related treaty implementation legislation, and related legislative matters;
  • TSCA Inventory Update Rule Amendments (IURA) reporting pitfalls, uncertainties, and unresolved issues; and
  • Hot topics in toxics and pesticide enforcemen

The Committee is interested in hearing about other programs that Committee members may wish to develop or post. If you are conducting meetings or have program ideas, please let me know.

Best regards,

Lynn L. Bergeson

Chair:
Lynn L. Bergeson

Vice Chairs:
Committee Newsletters
James C. Chen

Membership
Mark N. Duvall

Programs
Lawrence E. Culleen

Public Service
Patricia L. Sims

Technology
Sean Michael Sullivan

The Year in Review
Kenneth W. Weinstein

Additional
Christopher P. McCormack