TSCAblog®

On September 27, 2024,  the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) extended its May 2, 2023, Enforcement Statement regarding the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 6(h) Rule prohibiting the processing and distribution in commerce of decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE)-containing wire and cable insulation for use in nuclear power generation facilities after January 6, 2023. According to the memorandum, “EPA does not intend to...

The list of pending issues that Congress could consider during the lame duck session in 2024 continues to grow. The list includes “must pass” items, including appropriations to fund the government through the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This blog focuses on issues not getting the congressional attention they deserve. Members of Congress returned to Washington, D.C., from summer recess for a three-week work period in September....

As reported in our September 24, 2024, blog item, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) was scheduled to hold a hearing on September 26 titled “Examining the Public Health Impacts of [Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)] Exposures.” The hearing was postponed on September 25, 2024, when the Senate adjourned until November after enactment of H.R. 9747, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, also known as the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting comment on the next round of chemicals that it may prioritize for risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA announced the list of 27 chemicals during webinars on September 30 and October 1, 2024. According to the slides from the webinar, the candidate chemicals are: 1-Hexadecanol 2-Ethylhexyl 2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (TBB) 4-tert-Octylphenol (4-(1,1,3,3-Tetramethylbutyl)-phenol) Benzene bis(2-Ethylhexyl)...

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) held two public webinars in July 2024 to provide updates and answer questions on Minnesota’s per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in products law (Amara’s Law), which takes effect in stages between 2025 and 2032. MPCA has posted its presentations, recordings of the webinars, and written responses to questions received during the webinars. The questions and answers (Q&A) note that the written responses “are advisory as of September 12,...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 30, 2024, that it is updating the Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL) “to enhance transparency in safer chemistry, help consumers and organizations find safer chemical alternatives, and increase innovation and growth of safer products.” According to EPA, with this update, there are 957 chemicals on the SCIL. The updates include: EPA recharacterized methyl ethyl ketone (CAS RN 78-93-3) as a specialized industrial...

After the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a 2016 petition filed under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requesting that EPA consider whether fluoride in drinking water presents an unreasonable risk of injury to human health, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGO) promptly filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Food & Water Watch v. EPA (No. 3:17-cv-02162-EMC). After a bench trial in 2020, the...

On September 22, 2024, the State of California Department of Justice announced that it filed a lawsuit in the San Francisco County Superior Court against ExxonMobil “for allegedly engaging in a decades-long campaign of deception that caused and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis.” California “seeks to compel ExxonMobil, which promotes and produces the largest amount of polymers — essentially the building blocks used to make single-use plastic — that become plastic...

On September 20, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for a voluntary remand of the case brought by Cherokee Concerned Citizens or review of an Order for a New Chemical Substance under Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Cherokee Concerned Citizens v. EPA (No. 23-1096). EPA states that it wishes to withdraw the Order and reconsider...

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a hearing on September 26, 2024, on “Examining the Public Health Impacts of [Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)] Exposures.” The Committee will hear from the following witnesses:...