Skip to main content

Chemicals

Businesses around the globe that manufacture, process, distribute, and use chemical substances, pesticides, biochemicals, and antimicrobial products turn to Arnold & Porter for the specialized legal expertise of our Chemicals Regulation & Defense team. We offer the distinctive skills and integrated insights of lawyers who formerly held senior leadership positions at the U.S. EPA and other regulatory agencies, as well as the nation's leading practitioners for consumer protection laws. Our Chemicals team is well known for our strong record of counseling clients on national and international regulatory compliance and defending their interests in enforcement proceedings. Our team combines scientific knowledge with decades of experience to develop effective strategies that resolve issues specific to the chemicals sector.

  • Government and Scientific Backgrounds: Team members served in senior leadership positions at the U.S. EPA and other regulatory agencies, and also hold degrees in chemistry, chemical engineering, computer science, medicine, and other technical disciplines.

  • Deep Regulatory Expertise: We provide compliance counseling on TSCA; FIFRA; EPCRA; Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act; OSHA; Clean Air Act; Clean Water Act; REACH; and state programs; as well as assistance with comments and responses on proposed regulations and legislation.

  • Strong Record in Enforcement and Administrative Challenges: Our lawyers have extensive experience drafting comments and responses on proposed regulations and legislation, challenging agency regulations, intervening to defend rules against challenges brought by adverse parties, and defending products and clients in enforcement actions and citizens' suits.

Experience Highlights

  • ​​​​​​Chemours, as lead environmental counsel, on a range of regulatory, enforcement and litigation matters relating to the presence of chemicals in the Cape Fear River in North Carolina attributable to the client's facility, including a chemical referred to as GenX.

  • ​​​​​​A number of the nation's leading makers of devices, pesticides, antimicrobial and consumer products that are regulated by the EPA, FDA and various state governments on registration and authorization matters, administrative challenges, and enforcement and penalty proceedings; providing counsel on manufacturing and marketing standards applicable to various manufacturing facilities, finished products and articles; and seeking food additive regulations (tolerances) and exemptions for food packaging materials and pesticide residues on foods.

  • The Chemical Users Coalition, providing guidance and insight on developments in U.S. chemical regulatory policy and legislation to major manufacturers of products in the aeronautics and electronics sectors that depend on the availability of the latest developments in innovative chemistries.

  • Trade Associations representing the major suppliers of commercial and consumer use products on chemical regulatory, labeling, ingredient disclosure, and legislative reform issues.

  • Intelligent Global Pooling Systems (iGPS), the owner/operator of the country's only rental pool for recyclable plastic shipping pallets, in providing US and international regulatory counseling and legislative advice.