TSCAblog®

On January 31, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invited nominations of scientific experts from a diverse range of disciplines to be considered for appointment to the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB). 88 Fed. Reg. 6255. The SAB is a chartered Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) that provides independent scientific and technical peer review, consultation, advice, and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on the scientific bases for EPA’s actions and programs. The EPA...

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.’s (B&C®) January 31, 2023, webinar “What to Expect in Chemicals Policy and Regulation and on Capitol Hill in 2023” is now available for on-demand viewing. During this one-hour webinar, Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, B&C; James V. Aidala, Senior Government Affairs Consultant, B&C; Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, B&C; and Dennis R. Deziel, Senior Government Affairs Advisor, B&C discussed...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced on December 30, 2022, that it received a petition requesting the addition of polyphenylene sulfide to the list of taxable substances under Section 4672(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. 87 Fed. Reg. 80579. The petitioner is Celanese Ltd., an exporter of polyphenylene sulfide. According to the petition, “polyphenylene sulfide is a high-performance thermoplastic, has high heat and chemical resistance, and is used in applications such as filters,...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced on January 19, 2023, that it received a petition requesting the addition of 4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol-epichlorohydrin copolymer (bisphenol A epoxy resin) to the list of taxable substances under Section 4672(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. 88 Fed. Reg. 3478. The petitioner is Westlake Epoxy Inc., an exporter of 4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol-epichlorohydrin copolymer. According to the petition, “4,4′-Isopropylidenediphenol-Epichlorohydrin...

On January 12, 2023, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced the release of A Framework for Federal Scientific Integrity Policy and Practice, “a roadmap that will help strengthen scientific integrity policies and practices across the federal government.” The framework builds on the assessment of federal scientific integrity policies and practices described in the January 2022 report, Protecting the Integrity of Government Science, and...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 12, 2023, that it is updating the Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL), “a living list of chemicals organized by functional-use class that EPA’s Safer Choice program has evaluated and determined meet Safer Choice criteria.” EPA is adding nine chemicals to the SCIL. EPA states that to expand the number of chemicals and functional-use categories on the SCIL, it encourages manufacturers to submit their safer...

Registration is now open for the “What to Expect in Chemicals Policy and Regulation and on Capitol Hill in 2023” webinar on January 31, 2023, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (EST). This webinar offers our best-informed judgment as to the trends and key developments chemical industry stakeholders can expect in 2023. At a political level, the Republicans’ narrow control of the U.S. House of Representatives will almost certainly invite a greater degree of oversight of U.S. Environmental...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 5, 2023, the release of a new interactive web page on the “PFAS Analytic Tools” that provides information about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) across the country. EPA states that this information will help the public, researchers, and other stakeholders better understand potential PFAS sources in their communities. According to EPA, the PFAS Analytic Tools draw from multiple national databases and...

On December 27, 2022, the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to prevent Inhance Technologies USA from generating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) when fluorinating plastic containers. According to CEH and PEER’s joint press release, testing conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Notre Dame researchers, and other...

On December 29, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a report entitled The EPA’s Fiscal Years 2020 and 2019 Toxic Substances Control Act Service Fee Fund Financial Statements. The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg Act) requires EPA to prepare and OIG to audit the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Service Fee Fund financial statements each year. According to OIG, its primary objectives were...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced on December 28, 2022, that it received a petition requesting the addition of polyoxymethylene to the list of taxable substances under Section 4672(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. 87 Fed. Reg. 79938. The petitioner is Celanese Ltd., an exporter of polyoxymethylene. According to the petition, “polyoxymethylene is an engineering thermoplastic used in precision parts requiring high stiffness, low friction, and excellent dimensional stability. It...

On December 20, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requested public comment on its Guides for the Use of Environmental Claims (Green Guides). FTC intends the Green Guides to help marketers avoid making environmental marketing claims that are unfair or deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act. 87 Fed. Reg. 77766. FTC states in its December 14, 2022, news release that it seeks to update the Green Guides “based on increasing consumer interest in buying...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 21, 2022, that it seeks public nominations of scientific and technical experts whom EPA can consider for service as ad hoc reviewers assisting the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) with the peer review of two draft documents entitled “Draft Proposed Principles of Cumulative Risk Assessment Under the Toxic Substances Control Act” and “Draft Proposed Approach for Cumulative Risk Assessment of...

On December 15, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a redesign and updates to the statistics web page for the New Chemicals Review Program. According to EPA, the update includes additional information and metrics on the Agency’s review of new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), increasing transparency for the public, the regulated community, and other stakeholders. According to EPA, before TSCA was amended in 2016 by the...

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) will hold a virtual public meeting on January 10, 2023, on the chemicals under consideration for listing as Chemicals of Concern (COC) and High Priority Chemicals (HPC) for the Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Products (TCCP) program. NYS DEC will present an overview of the enacted TCCP law and discuss the chemicals under consideration for listing as COCs and HPCs that manufacturers will be required to report if present in...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 30, 2020, that it is inviting small businesses, governments, and not-for-profits to participate as Small Entity Representatives (SER) to provide advice and recommendations to two Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panels.  One Panel will focus on EPA’s development of a proposed rule to address unreasonable risks identified in EPA’s recently completed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation for...

On December 2, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed significant new use rules (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN) and are also subject to Orders issued by EPA pursuant to TSCA. 87 Fed. Reg. 74072. The SNURs require persons who intend to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or process any of these chemical substances for an activity that is proposed as a...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 7, 2022, that the final video recording, slide deck, and case study worksheets from the CompTox Chemicals Dashboard virtual training are now available. EPA also announced that the Dashboard recently released a new version (v2.1.1). New features include: A new link to an updated set of Help Pages containing new information; Ability to visualize structures in Batch Search; Ability to filter out...

On November 21, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has improved public access to certain reports submitted by chemical companies in ChemView, EPA’s web application for public access to non-confidential business information (non-CBI) on chemicals regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), including new chemical notices and notices of substantial risk. EPA has published previously unpublished new chemical notices received under TSCA Section 5...

This webinar has been rescheduled from December 7, 2022. The new and correct date and time is December 14, 2022, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. (EST). Registration is open for the "Articles under TSCA" webinar on December 14, 2022, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. (EST). When the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was enacted in 1976, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focused its attention on chemical substances and chemical mixtures, while largely exempting the regulation of chemicals in...