Archive for July, 2015

Speaker Announcement – Water 2.0 Conference 11/18 Washington DC

Posted on July 22nd, 2015 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Water Innovations Alliance Foundation is proud to announce the Speaker Lineup for our Water 2.0 Conference – Data Analytics for the Water Industry.

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Water 2.0 – Data Analytics for the Water Industry Conference
Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Conference Location:
Foley & Lardner LLP
3000 K Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20007-5109

Water enters the digital era. Big Data Solutions, Information Powered Utilities and Smarter Customers. The Water 2.0 – Data Analytics for the Water Industry Conference will focus on the use of data analytics, software and cyber security for water utilities. Participants will include water and energy industry authorities, utilities professionals and representatives from the EPA.  Registration will open at 8:AM.  Lunch is included in the registration fee.  The conference will wrap-up at 5:PM followed by networking.

REGISTER TODAY – $250

Speakers for the Water 2.0 – Data Analytics for the Water Industry Conference include:

Chanley T. Howell, Partner, Foley & Lardner, LLP

Kenneth E. Russell, Ph.D., Executive Director, Applied Technology Acceleration Institute – Wichita State University

Robert J. Gates, P.E., Global Marketing Director Manufacturing, GE Intelligent Platforms

Christopher Peacock, Director Strategic Accounts, FATHOM

Paul Gagliardo, M.P.H., P.E., Manager – Innovation Development, American Water

Alan Hinchman, Chief Operating Officer, The Water Initiative

David Schoenberger, CIO, Secure Cloud Systems, LLC

Erik Hromadka, CEO, Global Water Technologies, Inc.

Richard E. Hyman, Author of FROGMEN

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WATER NEWS

The Conference Treadmill
By Christopher Peacock
GE – Our Water Counts Blog

California Rain Showers: Small Things Matter
By Erik Hromadka
GE – Our Water Counts Blog

Protect What You Love
By Richard Hyman
GE – Our Water Counts Blog

The Power of One: A Tall Order for Overcoming Water Shortage
By Jill Burdette
GE – Our Water Counts Blog

The Drought Comes East: All Water Is Local
By Vincent Caprio
GE – Our Water Counts Blog

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CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP

Please join our roster of Corporate Members.  For further information, please contact Vincent Caprio vince@waterinnovationsfoundation.org or 203-733-1949 to discuss.

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INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP

We encourage individuals interested in continuing our efforts to provide information in regard to emerging water technologies to become individual members of the WIAF.  Click here to become a WIAF Individual Member.  The annual Individual Membership fee is $100.

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Looking forward to seeing you on November 18th in Washington, DC.

NanoBCA Congratulates Winners of Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards

Posted on July 22nd, 2015 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The NanoBusiness Commercialization Association (NanoBCA) would like to congratulate the winners of the 20th Annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is recognizing landmark green chemistry technologies developed by industrial pioneers and leading scientists that turn climate risk and other environmental problems into business opportunities, spurring innovation and economic development. “From academia to business, we congratulate those who bring innovative solutions that will help solve some of the most critical environmental problems,” said Jim Jones, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “These innovations reduce the use of energy, hazardous chemicals and water, while cutting manufacturing costs and sparking investments. In some cases they turn pollution into useful products. Ultimately, these manufacturing processes and products are safer for people’s health and the environment. We will continue to work with the 2015 winners as their technologies are adopted in the marketplace.” The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award winners were honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC. The winners and their innovative technologies are:

Algenol in Fort Myers, Florida, is being recognized for developing a blue-green algae to produce ethanol and other fuels. The algae uses CO2 from air or industrial emitters with sunlight and saltwater to create fuel while dramatically reducing the carbon footprint, costs and water usage, with no reliance on food crops as feedstocks. This is a win-win for the company, the public, and the environment. It has the potential to revolutionize this industry and reduce the carbon footprint of fuel production.

Hybrid Coating Technologies/Nanotech Industries of Daly City, California, is being recognized for developing a safer, plant-based polyurethane for use on floors, furniture and in foam insulation. The technology eliminates the use of isocyanates, the number one cause of workplace asthma. This is already in production, is reducing VOC’s and costs, and is safer for people and the environment.

LanzaTech in Skokie, Illinois, is being recognized for the development of a process that uses waste gas to produce fuels and chemicals, reducing companies’ carbon footprint. LanzaTech has partnered with Global Fortune 500 Companies and others to use this technology, including facilities that can each produce 100,000 gallons per year of ethanol, and a number of chemical ingredients for the manufacture of plastics. This technology is already a proven winner and has enormous potential for American industry.

SOLTEX (Synthetic Oils and Lubricants of Texas) in Houston, Texas, is being recognized for developing a new chemical reaction process that eliminates the use of water and reduces hazardous chemicals in the production of additives for lubricants and gasoline. If widely used, this technology has the potential to eliminate millions of gallons of wastewater per year and reduce the use of a hazardous chemical by 50 percent.

Renmatix in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, is being recognized for developing a process using supercritical water to more cost effectively break down plant material into sugars used as building blocks for renewable chemicals and fuels. This innovative low-cost process could result in a sizeable increase in the production of plant-based chemicals and fuels, and reduce the dependence on petroleum fuels.

Professor Eugene Chen of Colorado State University is being recognized for developing a process that uses plant-based materials in the production of renewable chemicals and liquid fuels.  This new technology is waste-free and metal-free. It offers significant potential for the production of renewable chemicals, fuels, and bioplastics that can be used in a wide range of safer industrial and consumer products.

During the 20 years of the program, EPA has received more than 1500 nominations and presented awards to 104 technologies. Winning technologies are responsible for annually reducing the use or generation of more than 826 million pounds of hazardous chemicals, saving 21 billion gallons of water, and eliminating 7.8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent releases to air.

An independent panel of technical experts convened by the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute formally judged the 2015 submissions from among scores of nominated technologies and made recommendations to EPA for the 2015 winners. The 2015 awards event was held in conjunction with the 2015 Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference.

Please help us spread the word about the 2015 winners and their innovative technologies within your own communication channels and through social media and web.  Feel free to share this email with your contacts and repost the social media content.

* Share our Twitter post. [ https://twitter.com/EPA/status/620652522844368896 ]
* 2015 Presidential Green Chemistry Award winners and share the blog. [ https://blog.epa.gov/blog/2015/07/american-innovators/ ]

For more information on this year’s winners and those from the last two decades, visit http://www2.epa.gov/green-chemistry

Once again, the NanoBCA is proud to congratulate our colleagues in the nanotechnology community.

Deadline for Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenges is July 16

Posted on July 21st, 2015 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Deadline for Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenges is July 16

Click here to view in your browser<http://nano.gov/node/1448>

This is your opportunity to help shape the future direction of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has issued a Request for Information (RFI) entitled Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenges for the Next Decade, and is seeking ideas for bold but achievable goals that utilize nanotechnology to solve problems of national or global importance. Responses are due by Thursday, July 16th. Visit the official Request for Information<https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/06/17/2015-14914/nanotechnology-inspired-grand-challenges-for-the-next-decade> to find out how you can respond.

For additional information, please contact NNCO Communications Director, Marlowe Newman at mnewman@nnco.nano.gov or call 703-292-8626.

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NANO NEWS Very Important Reminder

EPA Announces Extension to Wednesday, August 5, 2015 for Public Comment Period on Proposed Nanotechnology Rule

EPA published a Federal Register (FR) notice on Thursday, July 2, 2015, announcing that the public comment period on the proposed rule on Chemical Substances When Manufactured or Processed as Nanoscale Materials has been extended until August 5, 2015.  The link to the FR notice follows: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-0572-0079

Industry’s Response to EPA Proposed Nano Rule

Posted on July 21st, 2015 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Industry’s Response to EPA Proposed Nano Rule
posted on The National Law Review: Monday, June 22, 2015

EPA held a public meeting on June 11, 2015 on EPA’s Proposed Rule imposing one-time electronic reporting and recordkeeping requirements on manufacturers and processors of certain nanoscale materials under Section 8(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

EPA began the meeting by clarifying that the Proposed Rule targets nanoscale versions of substances that had previously been exempt from reporting requirements. New nanoscale materials are already subject to TSCA and over 170 premanufacturing notices have been filed for those new materials, including many for carbon nanotubes. EPA’s goal for the rule is to provide missing information on nanoscale versions of existing substances to evaluate whether further regulation is needed.

Commenters
Five individuals made comments: Steven Gordon of 3M speaking on behalf of the American Chemistry Council; Dan Russell of Pixelligent New Technologies; Jo Anne Shatkin of Vireo Advisors; Martha Marrapese of Keller and Heckman LLP speaking on behalf of the NanoManufacturing Association; and Vincent Caprio of the NanoBusiness Commercialization Association.

Issues Raised
Definition of Reportable Chemical Substances
. The definition of “reportable chemical substances” uses vague terms like “unique,” “novel,” and “trace,” which will make it difficult to determine whether something is a “reportable chemical substance.” The terms should be better defined and justified.

Discrete Forms of Nanomaterials. EPA should provide better guidance on how to measure discrete forms of nanoscale materials because the model used will affect the resulting measurements. One commenter objected to certain properties chosen by EPA to determine whether a discrete form exists, such as dispersion stability and surface reactivity, because they are not sufficiently linked to risk to human health and environment.

135-Day Review Period. Most of the commenters objected to the 135-day review period, which is longer than the 90-day review of reports for new substances, including because of the adverse economic effects of the additional delay.

Harmonizing U.S. and Canadian Approaches. EPA should reduce the burden on industry by aligning the forthcoming rule with the Canadian process announced earlier this year.

Availability of Required Information. Companies will not have certain of the required information readily available, burdening industry and violating TSCA 8(a), which only authorizes EPA to require information that companies already have or can reasonably ascertain.

What Next?
Public comments are due on July 6, 2015, but EPA did not specify when it will respond to the comments and what that response will be. One commenter suggested that EPA re-propose the rule for additional comments after it has been revised. During Nanotech 2015, a nanotechnology conference and exposition that occurred the week following the public meeting, it was suggested that the Proposed Rule would likely be finalized in late 2016, requiring reporting in 2017. In the meantime, those potentially subject to the rule can review the proposed form companies would be required to submit under the new rule.

Jo Anne Shatkin, of Vireo Advisors, is co-author of this article.
©1994-2015 Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. All Rights Reserved.

NanoBCA News – 2015 Summer Edition

Posted on July 2nd, 2015 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

As a person who attended and testified at the Public Meeting in regard to TSCA section 8(a) Proposed Rule on Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements for Nanoscale Materials on June 11, 2015, I would like to share with you the presentation that was given at the EPA meeting.

Click the link below to view the presentation:

TSCA Section 8(a) Proposed Rule for Chemical Substances Manufactured or Processed as Nanoscale Materials

– Written comments are due by August 5, 2015

– Submit comments to Docket # EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-0572 at www.regulations.gov

– Instructions are in the proposed rule on other methods for submitting comments including comments containing confidential business information

– Contact Jim Alwood at 202-564-8974 or alwood.jim@epa.gov for further information

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NANO NEWS

A Call for Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenges
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
By Lloyd Whitman, Assistant Director for Nanotechnology, OSTP and Tom Kalil, Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation, OSTP

Read more about what makes an effective Grand Challenge and how to propose your own Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenges for the Next Decade and comment on these examples here. Responses must be received by July 16, 2015 to be considered.

QEEN Workshop: Quantifying Exposure to Engineered Nanomaterials (QEEN) from Manufactured Products – Sponsored by CPSC in Collaboration with the NNI
Tuesday, July 7th and Wednesday, July 8th, 2015
Holiday Inn, 1900 N. Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA 22209

The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge
The 2015 winners will be announced at the 20th Annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Ceremony, July 13, 2015, at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC

VC-backed Nanotronics completes Franklin MCI acquisition
PE Hub

Nanosys First to Achieve EPA Approval for Mass Production of Quantum Dots
PR Newswire

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CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP

Please join our roster of Corporate Members.  For further information, please contact Vincent Caprio vincent@nanobca.org or 203-402-7200 to discuss.

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INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP

We encourage individuals interested in continuing our efforts to provide information in regard to emerging technologies to become Individual Members of the NanoBCA.  Individual Membership includes participation on our monthly conference call. Our next call is on Thursday, July 16th at 2:PM ET.  Click here to become a NanoBCA Individual Member.  The annual Individual Membership fee is $150.

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Enjoy the summer!