TSCAblog®

On October 26, 2022, the Biden Administration announced that it is expanding the Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Cybersecurity Initiative to the chemical sector. The White House’s fact sheet states that the majority of chemical companies are privately owned, so a collaborative approach is needed between the private sector and government. According to the fact sheet, “[t]he nation’s leading chemical companies and the government’s lead agency for the chemical sector — the...

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (CDTSC) invites stakeholders to two external engagement sessions, on November 1 and November 3, 2022, to share their perspectives on an actionable definition of sustainable chemistry. CDTSC states that stakeholders’ participation and expertise can help refine a draft, consensus definition and set of criteria for sustainable chemistry. According to CDTSC, the draft definition and criteria were developed over the past six months by a...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a webinar on October 27, 2022, in its Computational Toxicology and Exposure Communities of Practice (CompTox Communities of Practice) series on “Analysis of High-Throughput Profiling Assays in Chemical Safety Screening.” The abstract for the webinar states that recent technological advancements have led to the development of new high-throughput profiling methods, such as transcriptomics, that can be used to screen rapidly chemicals...

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on October 19, 2022, entitled “Persistent Chemicals: EPA Should Use New Data to Analyze the Demographics of Communities with PFAS in Their Drinking Water.” The Congressional requesters asked GAO to examine per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in drinking water and related state actions. GAO’s report examines what recent data from selected states show about the occurrence of PFAS in drinking water; the...

On October 13, 2022, Earthjustice, on behalf of a coalition of environmental organizations and community advocates, petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revoke the approval of approximately 600 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that were granted through low volume exemptions (LVE) or low release and low exposure exemptions (LoREX) to the premanufacture notice (PMN) requirements of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In its October 13,...

On October 11, 2022, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released its final investigative report into “a massive fire and explosions” at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refinery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that occurred in June 2019. According to CSB, the incident occurred when a corroded pipe elbow ruptured, releasing process fluid into the refinery’s hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation unit. CSB states that over 5,000 pounds of “highly toxic” HF were released, “a...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) New Chemicals Program will host a webinar on October 18, 2022, on EPA’s process for assessing the potential risks of new chemicals under Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the types of data EPA considers in this assessment. The webinar will cover examples of quantitative and qualitative data unlikely to be accepted for engineering assessment, considerations EPA makes when evaluating data, and clarifications of common...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 11, 2022, that the Office of Research and Development’s (ORD) Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) will review the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) New Chemicals Collaborative Research Program. 87 Fed. Reg. 61313. The meeting will be held October 24-25, 2022, via videoconference. Attendees must register by October 23, 2022. Comments must be received by October 23, 2022, to be considered by...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 3, 2022, two new online tools available to the public that provide additional information on environmental enforcement and compliance in their communities. EPA states that through improved transparency, advanced technologies, and community participation, these tools empower the public to help EPA ensure compliance nationwide and protect public health and the environment. EJ Metrics Integrated with ECHO Members of the...

Maine enacted “An Act To Stop Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Pollution” in July 2021. Under the bill, manufacturers of products with intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) must report the presence of the intentionally added PFAS in those products to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) beginning January 1, 2023. The law also prohibits the sale of carpets or rugs, as well as the sale of fabric treatments, that contain...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a webinar on October 13, 2022, on its web-based Interspecies Correlation Estimation (Web-ICE) tool. According to EPA, protecting the diversity of species from the adverse effects of chemicals is a significant environmental challenge. EPA acknowledges that information on the effects of chemicals on species is either very limited or lacking entirely, making management and mitigation of environmental contaminants difficult. EPA developed...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a webinar on September 24, 2021, for stakeholders to learn how to access and use the pollution prevention (P2) information collected by the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program about projects implemented by companies to eliminate or reduce the creation of chemical waste. According to EPA, community members, local government representatives, facility personnel, and others can access this information through multiple online resources...

As reported in our July 18, 2022, blog item, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received a petition on June 16, 2022, under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) from Daniel M. Galpern on behalf of Donn J. Viviani, John Birks, Richard Heede, Lise Van Susteren, James E. Hansen, Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions, and Climate Protection and Restoration Initiative. The petition requests EPA “to phase out the anthropogenic manufacture, processing, distribution,...

The U.S. Department of State (State Department) will hold a joint meeting from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EDT) on September 22, 2022, to discuss United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Resolution 5/8 and the related upcoming first session of the ad hoc open-ended working group (OEWG) on a science-policy panel (SPP) to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste. In Resolution 5/8, UNEA states that an SPP should be established to contribute further...

 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 8, 2020, a “broad public engagement and outreach effort” to discuss how EPA will approach the rulemaking process to address unreasonable risks found in final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) chemical risk evaluations.  After issuing the first two final risk evaluations, methylene chloride and 1-bromopropane, EPA states that it “is moving into the risk management phase and is hosting a robust...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 8, 2021, the availability of the draft scope of the risk evaluation to be conducted for octamethylcyclotetra-siloxane (D4). 86 Fed. Reg. 50347. As reported in our October 7, 2020, blog item, through the American Chemistry Council’s Silicones Environmental, Health, and Safety Center, Dow Silicones Corporation, Elkem Silicones USA Corporation, Evonik Corporation, Momentive Performance Materials, Shin-Etsu Silicones of...

On September 6, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), including their salts and structural isomers, as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). 87 Fed. Reg. 54415. According to EPA, “[s]uch a designation would ultimately facilitate cleanup of contaminated sites and reduce human exposure to these ‘forever’...

ASTM has announced that a new subcommittee will develop standards on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that are present in consumer products. ASTM describes PFAS as “a group of chemicals that are used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water.” The new subcommittee (F15.81) will operate under the jurisdiction of ASTM’s consumer products committee (F15). According to ASTM, the new subcommittee “will develop standards...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 8, 2022, that it selected 39 recipients that will receive nearly $12 million in pollution prevention (P2) grants made possible by President Joseph Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $100 million program investment. According to EPA, the grants will allow states and Tribes to provide businesses with technical assistance to help them develop and adopt P2 practices to prevent or reduce pollution before it is even...

 On September 1, 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the availability of two new resources to answer stakeholder questions regarding the revised biotechnology regulations under 7 C.F.R. Part 340: These resources, along with other information on the revised biotechnology regulations, are available on the APHIS website. For additional questions regarding the regulation of modified microorganisms, contact APHIS...