GOVERNMENT & POLICY CONCENTRATES
COMPANIES SCORED ON DISCLOSURE OF FRACKING CHEMICALS Some oil and gas companies improved their chemical disclosure records last year, but 70% of those ranked in an annual scorecard that benchmarks public disclosures received failing marks. Scoring was based on publicly available disclosures of toxic chemicals, water and waste management, air emissions, community impacts, and management accountability. BHP Billiton, which has its headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, was the best-performing company for the second year in a row. Chesapeake Energy, ExxonMobil, and Chevron appeared in the bottom third of the list. “Companies must improve their local disclosures—their social license to operate is often determined by local concerns such as land and water use, air and water pollution, and nuisances such as noise, light pollution, traffic, and road damage,” says Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, one of the three environmental consulting firms that authored the scorecard. Disclosures, which are made to state regulators or the voluntary repository FracFocus, provide information about specialty chemicals added to millions of liters of water and injected underground during the process of hydraulic fracturing.—JM
FLEA POWDER MAY POSE RISK TO TOTS The organophosphate insecticide tetrachlorvinphos (TCVP) used in pet products to control fleas and ticks may pose a health risk to small children, according to a draft
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Some flea and tick collars contain tetrachlorvinphos.
assessment released by EPA late last month. Specifically, the potential risk is for toddlers aged one to two years who come into contact with pets treated with the chemical in dust form. EPA conducted the assessment in response to a lawsuit by the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, which wants the agency to ban all pet products containing TCVP. The group claims that the pesticide is neurotoxic and poses unacceptable risks to children’s
NEONICOTINOID CAN HARM BEES The neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid has negative effects on bees and other pollinators at residue levels above 25 ppb, according to preliminary assessments released last week by EPA and Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency. These effects include reducing both honey production and the numbers of pollinators. EPA’s study finds that pollen and nectar of citrus and cotton HN N flowers can harbor residues of imidacloprid above N Cl the safety threshold. Corn and leafy vegetables, N NO2 however, have residue levels below the threshold, the agency notes. The assessment is the first of four that Imidacloprid EPA plans to release this year evaluating the risks of neonicotinoid pesticides for bees attracted to various crops. EPA expects to release assessments on three more—clothianidin, thiamethoxam, and dinotefuran—in December. EPA is working closely with California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation to complete the assessments. Once finalized, they could trigger regulatory action to restrict use of the pesticides.—BEE
developing brains and nervous systems. In 2014, EPA denied a petition from the group seeking a ban, saying TCVP pet products pose no risk to human health. NRDC then challenged that decision last year. As part of that litigation, EPA agreed to release a revised health risk assessment for the chemical by the end of 2016. The draft assessment considers new data about residue on pet fur and about liquid and dust formulations with TCVP.—BEE
NEW INNOVATION INSTITUTES PLANNED The National Institute of Standards & Technology is issuing a call for two new manufacturing innovation institutes. These institutes will be part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, which was proposed by President Barack Obama and funded by Congress. The network brings together industry, academic, and government researchers to work on important scientific challenges facing manufacturing. For each of the two new institutes, the government will provide $70 million over five years. That amount must be matched by private, nonfederal funding. “For the first time, the topic areas have not been chosen in advance but will depend on industry interests and input,” says Penny Pritzker, secretary of the Department of Commerce, which includes NIST. Even though NIST isn’t dictating the topic of these two new research centers, it has said biopharmaceutical manufacturing and robotics are two areas of interest. CEN.ACS.ORG
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Federal awards have so far created seven innovation institutes on topics such as composites manufacturing, lightweight metals, and 3-D printing. NIST’s solicitation for new innovation institute proposals will be released later this month.—AW
OZONE RULE CHALLENGED Industry groups and environmental organizations are separately asking a federal appeals court to review EPA’s recently tightened air quality standard for groundlevel ozone, or smog. In October 2015, EPA ratcheted down its ozone standard to 70 ppb from 75 ppb. The agency says the revision will better protect children, the elderly, and people afflicted with respiratory ailments such as asthma. An industry coalition that includes the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) wants EPA to retain the 75-ppb standard. “This rule is just one of the Administration’s many high-cost regulations that continue to place undue hardship on not only the fuel and petrochemical manufacturers, but on American workers, businesses, and communities,” says AFPM President Chet Thompson. However, environmental advocates have pushed for a standard as low as 60 ppb. “EPA’s updated ozone standard falls well short of the Clean Air Act’s requirements to protect the health of vulnerable populations,” says Terry McGuire, the Sierra Club’s Washington representative on smog pollution. “Every American deserves clean and healthy air.”—GLENN HESS, special to C&EN
