Archives

March 15, 2024

USDA Releases Plan to Strengthen the Bioeconomy through a More Resilient Biomass Supply Chain

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released on March 14, 2024, a report entitled Building a Resilient Biomass Supply: A Plan to Enable the Bioeconomy in America, “a plan that will boost biomass supply chain resiliency for domestic biobased product manufacturing, while also advancing environmental sustainability and market opportunities for small and mid-sized producers.” According to USDA, the plan is one of the key USDA deliverables of President Biden’s 2022 Executive Order on...
March 11, 2024

USDA Releases Reports on Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry and on Hemp Research and Innovation

On March 8, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture honored the second annual National Biobased Products Day, “a celebration to raise public awareness of biobased products, their benefits and their contributions to the U.S. economy and rural communities.” USDA states that as part of its activities to honor National Biobased Products Day, it released two reports: Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry USDA states that its commissioned report “An Economic Impact...
March 4, 2024

USDA Seeks Comments on Petition to Deregulate Corn Developed Using Genetic Engineering

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on March 4, 2024, that it received a petition from Bayer U.S.-Crop Science seeking a determination of nonregulated status for maize (corn) event MON 95379 that has been developed using genetic engineering to produce two insecticidal proteins to protect against feeding damage caused by target lepidopteran pests. 89 Fed. Reg. 15542. APHIS is making the petition available for review and...
February 15, 2024

USDA Proposes Streamlined Regulation for Biobased Markets (BioPreferred) Program

The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS), an agency of the Rural Development mission area within U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), issued a proposed rule on January 24, 2024, that would adopt changes from the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). 89 Fed. Reg. 4770. The changes include merging the Guidelines for Designating Biobased Products for Federal Procurement (7 C.F.R. Part 3201) and the Voluntary Labeling Program for Biobased Products (7 C.F.R. Part 3202) into...
January 31, 2024

USDA Awarding $19 Million in Grants to U.S. Business Owners to Increase Access to Clean, Affordable Domestic Biofuels

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on January 11, 2024, that it is awarding $19 million in grants to U.S. business owners to increase the availability of domestic biofuels in 22 states and provide “cleaner, more affordable fuel options at gas station pumps as part of President Biden’s Bidenomics agenda to lower costs and invest in America.” USDA is making the awards through the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP), made possible with funding...
January 3, 2024

APHIS Reopens Comment Period on Proposed Additional Exemptions for Plants Modified or Produced Through Genetic Engineering

As reported in our November 16, 2023, blog item, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) proposed on November 15, 2023, five new types of genetic modifications a plant can contain and be exempt from the regulations for the movement of organisms modified or produced through genetic engineering because such modifications could otherwise be achieved through conventional breeding methods. 88 Fed. Reg. 78285. Comments were due December 15,...
December 4, 2023

APHIS Announces Determination of Nonregulated Status for Insect-Resistant and Herbicide-Tolerant Maize

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) “advis[ed] the public” on December 1, 2023, of its determination that DP23211 maize (corn) that has been developed using genetic engineering for insect resistance to western corn rootworm and contains the gene that codes for the phosphinothricin acetyltransferase protein responsible for tolerance to glufosinate-ammonium herbicides, as well as the gene that encodes for the phosphomannose isomerase...
November 30, 2023

USDA Updates List of Bioengineered Foods

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published a final rule on November 29, 2023, updating the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard’s (the Standard) List of Bioengineered (BE) Foods (the List) by adding “sugarcane (Bt insect-resistant varieties)” and amending “squash (summer)” to “squash (summer, coat protein-mediated virus-resistant varieties).” 88 Fed. Reg. 83305. AMS states that in updating the List, “this final rule...
November 16, 2023

APHIS Proposes Five Additional Exemptions for Plants Modified or Produced Through Genetic Engineering

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) proposed on November 15, 2023, five new types of genetic modifications a plant can contain and be exempt from the regulations for the movement of organisms modified or produced through genetic engineering because such modifications could otherwise be achieved through conventional breeding methods. 88 Fed. Reg. 78285. According to APHIS’s November 14, 2023, press release, the proposed exemptions...
November 14, 2023

USDA, EPA, and FDA Post Report on Stakeholder Comments on Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology and Plain-Language Regulatory Information

On November 13, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted the following documents on the Unified Website for Biotechnology Regulation: As reported in our September 13, 2022, blog item, on September 12, 2022, President Joseph Biden signed an Executive Order creating a National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative to accelerate biotechnology innovation and grow America’s...