Advocating for Biobased Chemicals and Biofuels Services
Biobased chemicals and advanced biofuels are promising technologies sought worldwide by countries hoping to achieve greater energy independence and greener economies. According to one estimate, biobased chemicals’ share of the global chemical industry is expected to grow from 2 percent to 22 percent by 2025. Much of the growth in biofuels technology development has been driven by the fuel-blending requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and the European Commission’s (EC) renewable fuel standards, established in 2007 and 2009, and the funding and tax incentives provided to this industry in recent years.
As renewable energy and advanced biofuels become c...
As renewable energy and advanced biofuels become commercial realities, emerging conversion technologies are producing business opportunities for a growing list of biobased products. The growth opportunities buttressed by governmental supports provide ample opportunities for stakeholders -- both in the market and in the policy-making process.
Our Experience:
The Acta Group (Acta®) team of professionals is well-versed to assist clients in navigating the challenging regulatory issues and policy advocacy opportunities that are unique to this emerging technology.
What We Do:
Acta professionals manage regulatory, legislative, and policy issues critical to evolving biobased technologies, including bioenergy, biofuels, and biobased chemical production. We assist clients in a wide range of areas, from legislative authorization to rulemaking.
Regulatory areas in which we advise clients include the following:
- Strategic Planning to Identify the Most Efficient and Effective Regulatory Pathways
- Chemical Product Approval and Review –
- Assist in the approval and regulation of industrial biobased chemical products, including those enabled by biotechnology
- Assist with reporting obligations for new and existing chemicals
- Specific Regulatory Reviews –
- Assist clients’ adherence to:
- Premanufacture Notification (PMN)/Microbial Commercial Activity Notice (MCAN) requirements
- PMN requirements pertinent to biobased chemical products
- Section 5 Significant New Use Rules (SNUR)
- Assist clients’ adherence to:
- Recordkeeping and Reporting Assistance –
- Assist clients with their Section 8(a), (d), and (e) recordkeeping and reporting requirements, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), and systems development issues
- Additional Sample Matters –
- Export issues
- Inventory issues
Advocacy areas in which we represent clients include efforts to support governmental appropriations for and reauthorization of existing bioenergy and biomass production programs, influence rulemaking to implement bioenergy and biomass production programs, and help clients secure financing for construction of biofuel production facilities.
Representative Engagements:
- We assist biobased chemical producers to assess and comply with regulatory obligations as they relate to biobased chemicals. In this regard, we have tackled unique questions of first impression before EPA, and have assisted with how the issues are framed and resolved.
- We have prepared and obtained approvals for microbial chemical substances under EPA’s MCAN program.
- We have assisted large chemical producers with assessing their naming conventions under TSCA of chemical substances procured from naturally-occurring substances.
- We are a proud sponsor of the BIO World Congress, and presented a workshop on TSCA’s application to biobased chemicals.
- Our government relations professionals have assisted large and small chemical, biotechnology, and biofuel clients to advance their bioenergy policy objectives before the U.S. Congress, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and EPA.
- We have organized and managed a coalition of clients to advance Congressional appropriations and authorizing legislation for programs supporting production of non-food bioenergy crops.