TSCAblog®

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 9, 2025, that it is beginning a 30-day comment period on its 2024 final risk management rule for carbon tetrachloride (CTC). 90 Fed. Reg. 48203. As reported in our January 13, 2025, memorandum, EPA published the final rule on December 11, 2024. After the final rule was published, several legal challenges were filed and then consolidated in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. EPA states that it “has since...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 10, 2025, that it eliminated “an extensive backlog of notifications received from companies regarding chemical risks that needed review and routing across the agency.” Section 8(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires chemical manufacturers, importers, processers, and distributors to report to EPA any information that indicates their chemical may pose substantial risk to human health or the environment. EPA...

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has posted a Public Involvement Plan (PIP) for implementing the Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Protection Act (HB 212). Effective October 8, 2025, the PIP provides public participation opportunities and information needed for the community to engage in rulemaking, enforcement, and policy development under the Act. The PIP also identifies information about affected communities and resources needed by NMED to incorporate public participation...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 7, 2025, the addition of a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) to the list of chemicals covered by the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). EPA added sodium perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS-Na) to the TRI list pursuant to the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). EPA states that the addition is due to EPA issuing a final toxicity value in 2025 entitled “IRIS Toxicological Review of Perfluorohexanesulfonic...

On October 2, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report entitled Lessons Learned from Prior Oversight Related to the EPA’s Rulemaking. According to the report, OIG initiated the project to describe the lessons identified from select EPA OIG and U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports to help inform EPA’s future rulemaking efforts. OIG states that it reviewed 17 reports and identified five lessons from these prior...

Beginning July 1, 2026, Connecticut will prohibit the manufacture, sale, and distribution of certain consumer products that contain intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) unless the manufacturer provides prior notification to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and labels these products. The consumer products are apparel; carpets or rugs; cleaning products; cookware; cosmetic products; dental floss; fabric treatments; children's...

As reported in our May 29, 2025, memorandum, on May 22, 2025, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) held a public hearing on its proposed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reporting rule. Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Jim Mortenson facilitated the hearing. To allow the proposed rule to move forward, the ALJ must conclude that MPCA has the legal authority to adopt the rule; that MPCA has fulfilled all relevant legal and procedural requirements to promulgate the rules; and that...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 18, 2025, that it will prioritize the review of submissions for new chemicals that are intended for use in data center projects or in the manufacturing of covered components, in each case, which pertain to a data center project that is a qualifying project, as defined by Executive Order (EO) 14318, “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure.” EPA states that new chemical manufacturers may also seek to...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 17, 2025, its next steps regarding regulatory efforts to address cleanup of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). On May 8, 2024, EPA designated PFOA, PFOS, and their salts and structural isomers as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Under the rule, entities are required to report immediately releases of PFOA and PFOS...

As reported in our April 11, 2025, memorandum, on April 8, 2025, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signed the Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Protection Act (HB 212), which will phase out intentionally added PFAS in certain consumer products before banning intentionally added PFAS in most products on January 1, 2032. The Act also requires manufacturers to report information about intentionally added PFAS by January 1, 2027. The Act states that the New Mexico...