All Things Chemical

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Richard E. Engler , Director of Chemistry for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta ® ), our consulting affiliate, and Ryan N. Schmit , Of Counsel with B&C and Senior Regulatory Consultant with Acta, about the ever-tricky topic of confidential business information (CBI) -- what is it, how to protect it, and steps to take to avoid losing it. As listeners ma...

This week, I was pleased to welcome back to the studio Dana S. Lateulere , Regulatory Consultant with B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group (Acta ® ), and James V. Aidala , Senior Government Affairs Consultant at B&C and Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs, at Acta, to discuss the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) significant role in combating pathogens like those s...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with my colleague, Carla N. Hutton , Senior Regulatory Analyst for B&C, to discuss emerging state per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) restrictions. As many listeners appreciate, dozens of states are considering, and others have enacted, state restrictions on a wide variety of products with the goal of eventually prohibiting the sale of products that contain in...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Ahna G. Brutlag, Vice President of Veterinary Services and Senior Veterinary Toxicologist at SafetyCall International, LLC and Pet Poison Helpline ® . Impressively, Dr. Brutlag is a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Toxicology (ABVT) as well as a Diplomate of the human counterpart, the American Board of Toxicology (ABT), a distinction...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Molly R. Blessing , Vice President of Sustainability & Product Stewardship for the Household & Commercial Products Association (HCPA). We discuss a few of the fascinating and vexing challenges industry faces today in the complex world of product stewardship. We address the growing pains of conflicting state extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws,...

I was delighted this week to visit again with Alexandra Dunn , President and Chief Executive Officer of CropLife America (CLA), and my colleague Jim Aidala , to discuss some of the issues facing the crop protection industry. Alex's amazing career has prepared her well for her demanding job. After graduating from law school and a brief stint in private practice, Alex served as general counsel for t...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with my colleagues, Catherina D. Narigon and L. Claire Hansen , both Associates with B&C and Regulatory Consultants with The Acta Group (Acta ® ), B&C's consulting affiliate, about the complex world of end-of-life product management. We discuss extended producer responsibility (EPR), recyclability labeling requirements, and plastics and microplastics regul...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with my colleagues, Carla N. Hutton , Senior Regulatory Analyst for B&C, and Lindsay A. Holden, Ph. D., DABT , Senior Toxicologist/Regulatory Scientist for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta®), our consulting affiliate. We discuss the relentless pace of state per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulations. For those expecting a slowdown, think again. Per...

This week, I was pleased to welcome back to the studio Jim Aidala , Senior Government Affairs Consultant at B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group (Acta ® ) and Claire Hansen , an Associate with B&C and Regulatory Analyst with Acta, to discuss the ever-changing influence of foreign policy on the chemical industry. As we all know, there is a lot going on in the world and much of it may se...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Richard E. Engler , Director of Chemistry for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta ® ), our consulting affiliate, and Ryan N. Schmit , Of Counsel with B&C and Senior Regulatory Consultant with Acta, about the recent release of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment's Discussion Draft of suggested amendments to the Toxic Substances Contr...

This week, I was pleased to welcome back to the studio Jim Aidala , Senior Government Affairs Consultant at B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group (Acta®), to discuss his take on what to expect from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Congress on pesticide matters in the new year. As an astute student of politics and a keen observer of EPA chemical policies and personaliti...

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Rachel Harris , Technical Project Manager, Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI), Argonne National Laboratory, and our own Dr. Richard Engler , to discuss Argonne National Laboratory's Chain Reaction Innovations entrepreneurship. We here at B&C truly appreciate the value and importance of chemical innovation, so when we learned of Argonne National Labor...

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Adelina Voutchkova , Director of Sustainable Development at the American Chemical Society (ACS), and my colleague Dr. Richard Engler , B&C's Director of Chemistry, to discuss ACS' much-coveted Green Chemistry Challenge Awards and ACS' Green Chemistry Institute (GCI). Institutionally, GCI has grown as the imperative for greener and more sustainable...

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Ryan N. Schmit , Of Counsel with B&C, and Senior Regulatory Consultant with The Acta Group (Acta ® ). Ryan joined us a few weeks ago and we wanted to show off our newest Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) superstar. We discuss Ryan's illustrious career with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the past 15 years. As you will hear, Ryan h...

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Greg Gartland , Chief Executive Officer of 3E. We discuss 3E's business offerings, how it defines its place in the very competitive world of chemical information management, the role artificial intelligence has in this space, and trends Greg sees driving growth in chemicals, product stewardship, and sustainability. ALL MATERIALS IN THIS PODCAST ARE PRO...

A few months ago, I recorded a podcast with my colleagues, Carla N. Hutton , Senior Regulatory Analyst for B&C, and Dr. Richard E. Engler , Director of Chemistry for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta ® ), our consulting affiliate, on the ever-expanding and complicated scope of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulation in the United States. We convened a webinar on this topic in mid-May that...

This week, I sat down with my colleague, L. Claire Hansen , a Legal Intern here at B&C and Regulatory Analyst for The Acta Group (Acta ® ), B&C's consulting affiliate, to discuss the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). With its fast-approaching December 31, 2025 , effective date, U.S. product exporters to the European Market whose goods contain seven commodities -- cocoa, coffee, cattl...

On June 25, 2025, B&C, along with the Environmental Law Institute and the George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health, sponsored the all-day virtual conference, TSCA Reform -- Nine Years Later. The conference was hugely successful and almost 1,000 people registered for it. The quality of the discussion, the caliber of the participants, and the timeliness of the content motivated...

On June 25, 2025, B&C, along with the Environmental Law Institute and the George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health, sponsored the all-day virtual conference, TSCA Reform -- Nine Years Later. The conference was hugely successful and almost 1,000 people registered for it. The quality of the discussion, the caliber of the participants, and the timeliness of the content motivated...

On June 25, 2025, B&C, along with the Environmental Law Institute and the George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health, sponsored the all-day virtual conference, TSCA Reform -- Nine Years Later. The conference was hugely successful and almost 1,000 people registered for it. The quality of the discussion, the caliber of the participants, and the timeliness of the content motivated...

On June 25, 2025, B&C, along with the Environmental Law Institute and the George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health, sponsored an all-day virtual conference, TSCA Reform -- Nine Years Later. The conference was hugely successful and almost 1,000 people registered for it. The quality of the discussion, the caliber of the participants, and the timeliness of the content inspired u...

This week, I sat down with Lisa R. Burchi , Of Counsel to Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. and resident expert on Proposition 65, among many other chemical laws. Lisa explains why businesses doing business in California need to know about the latest version of the so-called "short form" warning requirements that will be fully phased in by 2028 . That may sound like a long way off, but it is not. We also...

This week, I discuss with my colleague, Kelly N. Garson , a Senior Associate here at B&C and Regulatory Consultant for The Acta Group (Acta®), B&C's consulting affiliate, the implications of the demise of Chevron deference, especially as it relates to Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) litigation. We discuss what Chevron deference is, other types of deference that are still very much a part of ju...

This week, I was pleased to welcome back to the studio Jim Aidala , Senior Government Affairs Consultant at B&C and its consulting affiliate, The Acta Group (Acta ® ), to discuss the first six months of the Trump Administration. We have all been trying to take in and process the many Executive Orders, Presidential Directives, and other developments of all sorts coming out of the White House at a h...

This week, I discuss with Patricia Underwood, Ph. D. , DABT, MBA, Chief Toxicologist, Principal Director – Chemical and Material Risk Management, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense, and my colleague, Richard E. Engler, Ph. D. , Director of Chemistry for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta ® ), our consulting affiliate, the U.S. Department of Defense's (DOD) recent Request...