Thomas C. Berger joined Keller and Heckman in 1993.
Mr. Berger has extensive experience in representing foreign and domestic companies, both large and small, in a broad range of areas, including counseling, advocacy, and rulemaking in environmental law, occupational safety and health law, contracts, and chemical and product liability management.
Mr. Berger's practice focuses primarily on the regulation and approval of new and existing chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and its international counterparts in Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan. Mr. Berger also counsels trade association clients on various matters, including environmental, product disparagement, and defense issues. Mr. Berger has been significantly involved in efforts to "reform" TSCA.
Mr. Berger assists clients in bringing new products to market in an expedient, cost-effective manner using an interdisciplinary approach that combines law and science with a focus on emerging technologies in the industrial chemicals area. Mr. Berger frequently undertakes matters that involve complex chemical nomenclature issues.
Mr. Berger designs, conducts, and oversees intensive voluntary compliance audits, counsels companies on managing liability under EPA's "Audit Policy" and other penalty mitigation policies, and assists companies in preparing for agency inspections and responding to information requests. Mr. Berger guides clients through the TSCA premanufacture notification (PMN) review process and negotiates the terms and conditions of TSCA section 5(e) consent orders and significant new use rules (SNUR).
Mr. Berger co-authored an amicus curiae brief for U.S. Supreme Court in Hoechst Celanese v. United States, 128 F.3d 216 (4th Cir. 1997), and four technical papers on polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans ("dioxin"). Mr. Berger was a contributing author of Environmental and Workplace Safety, A Guide for University, Hospital, and School Managers (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1996).
Mr. Berger has a chemical engineering background and prior to joining Keller and Heckman was employed by the E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co., Inc.
Mr. Berger is a frequent lecturer on chemical notification, chemical regulation, liability management, auditing, and TSCA reform issues.