The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 10, 2020, that the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program released the ORD Staff Handbook for Developing IRIS Assessments (IRIS Handbook) for public comment. EPA states that the IRIS Handbook provides operating procedures for developing IRIS assessments, including problem formulation approaches and methods for conducting systematic review, dose response analysis, and developing toxicity values. The IRIS...
November 10, 2020
EPA Seeks Participants for Small Business Review Panel on HBCD Risk Management Rulemaking
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 9, 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 a Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel for the cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster (HBCD). The Panel will focus on EPA’s development of a proposed rule to address unreasonable risks identified in EPA’s recently completed Toxic Substances Control...
November 5, 2020
EPA Announces Environmental Justice Consultations on Risk Management Rulemakings for Methylene Chloride and 1-BP
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 3, 2020, that it will hold webinars to consult with environmental justice communities on risk management for methylene chloride and 1-bromopropane (1-BP). EPA states that the webinars are open to the public and will focus on the environmental justice impacts of EPA’s development of proposed rules to address the unreasonable risks identified in the final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluations for these...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 29, 2020, that it is releasing a revised draft risk evaluation for C.I. Pigment Violet 29 (PV29) for public comment and peer review under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA states that after it issued a draft risk evaluation in November 2018, it received additional data on PV29 in response to test orders, as well as additional information voluntarily submitted by the sole U.S. manufacturer. According to...
On October 14, 2020, a coalition of North Carolina non-governmental organizations (NGO) petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 4 test rule for 54 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) manufactured by The Chemours Company (Chemours) at its chemical production facility in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The petition, filed under TSCA Section 21, seeks issuance of a rule or order under TSCA Section 4 compelling...
October 21, 2020
EPA Reminds Companies of November 1 Deadline to Submit CBI Substantiations for NOA Form A
On October 16, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reminded companies that if they filed a retrospective activity notice (Notice of Activity (NOA) Form A) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Rule and claimed the specific chemical identity as confidential business information (CBI), they have until November 1, 2020, to submit or amend their CBI substantiations. Companies that amend, update, or file new CBI...
Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) stated on October 11, 2019, that EPA will provide more time for public comment on its draft risk evaluations before the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) meets to peer review the draft documents. According to Dunn, the new schedule will include a comment period of at least 30 days...
Representatives Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, wrote to Amazon Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chair Jeff Bezos on October 7, 2020, requesting that he launch an investigation into the safety of Amazon’s product line, AmazonBasics, and answer a series of questions pertaining to the company’s product safety and recall...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted on October 6, 2020, a manufacturer request for a risk evaluation of octamethylcyclotetra-siloxane (D4), a chemical used to make other silicone chemicals and as an ingredient in some personal care products. 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...
October 5, 2020
EPA Accepting Public Comments for Candidates under Consideration for TSCA SACC Membership
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting public comments for all candidates under consideration for membership on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC). Biographies for all candidates are available in Docket ID EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0135. When providing comments, EPA states that stakeholders should not submit electronically any information considered to be confidential business information (CBI) or other information whose...