TSCAblog®

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 5, 2021, that it is inviting small businesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations 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...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold webinars on February 2, 2021, and February 18, 2021, to consult with environmental justice communities on risk management for the cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster (HBCD) and carbon tetrachloride.  The webinars will focus on the environmental justice impacts of EPA’s development of proposed rules to address the unreasonable risks identified in the final TSCA risk evaluations for these chemicals.  EPA states that both sessions will...

On January 6, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final rules under Section 6(h) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for five persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals -- 2,4,6-tris(tert-butyl)phenol (2,4,6-TTBP) (86 Fed. Reg. 866); decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) (86 Fed. Reg. 880); hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) (86 Fed. Reg. 922); pentachlorothiophenol (PCTP) (86 Fed. Reg. 911); and phenol, isopropylated...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 5, 2021, that it is reopening the reporting period under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory notification active-inactive rule where companies identified chemicals that were manufactured, imported, or processed in the United States during the ten-year time period ending on June 21, 2016.  As reported in our June 26, 2017, memorandum, “EPA Issues Final TSCA Framework Rules,” the final TSCA Inventory...

On December 21, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that a report compiling the letter peer reviewers’ comments on the revised draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation of C.I. Pigment Violet 29 (PV29) is now available in Docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0604.  EPA states that it is in the process of reviewing the letter peer reviewers’ comments and will use the feedback received from the peer review and public comments to inform the final risk...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has posted a Compliance Advisory entitled “Applicability of the Toxic Substances Control Act to Chemicals made from Petroleum and Renewable Sources Used as Fuels and Fuel Additives and Distillates.”  The Compliance Advisory states that EPA is reaffirming that chemical substances used as fuels, fuel additives, and distillates made from either petroleum or renewable sources are subject to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  Anyone who...

On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of new interim guidance on destroying and disposing of certain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and PFAS-containing materials for public comment.  85 Fed. Reg. 83554.  The interim guidance outlines the current state of the science on techniques and treatments that may be used to destroy or dispose of PFAS and PFAS-containing materials from non-consumer products,...

On December 21, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposed rule that would amend the 2018 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) fees rule.  According to EPA, the proposed rule “reflects real-world situations, narrows the broad scope of current requirements, significantly reduces the burden on American businesses, and increases the flexibility for surrounding TSCA fees requirements.”  Under TSCA, EPA collects fees from chemical...

On December 16, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of a draft compliance guide that outlines which imported articles are covered by EPA’s July 2020 final significant new use rule (SNUR) that prohibits companies from manufacturing, importing, processing, or using certain long-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) without prior EPA review and approval.  85 FR 81466.  The draft guide will be “the official compliance guide for...

On December 14, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final risk evaluation for perchloroethylene.  The final risk evaluation determined that there are unreasonable risks to workers, occupational non-users (ONU), consumers, and bystanders from 59 out of 61 conditions of uses: Consumers and Bystanders:  EPA found unreasonable risks to consumers and bystanders from all consumer uses of perchloroethylene.  Common consumer uses include as a dry...