EPA Opens Comment Period on Risk Evaluations for First Ten Chemicals under Revised TSCA
On June 19, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency posted a memo authorizing the opening of comment periods for the public to comment on the risk evaluation process for the first ten chemicals it is evaluating under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to determine whether they “present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.” Specifically, EPA states it is interested in “information from the public that could be useful to the Agency in conducting problem formulation,” which is the “next step in the process of conducting the required risk evaluations for these chemicals.” Comments are due September 19, 2017.
EPA’s 2017 Annual Report on Risk Evaluations issued in February stated that it expected to issue a scoping document on each of the individual chemicals by June 19, 2017, which must include “the hazard(s), exposure(s), condition(s) of use, and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulation(s) the Administrator expects to consider in the evaluation.” EPA has not yet issued the scoping documents, but is expected to do so soon. After the scoping documents have been published, EPA stated that it would “continue with the risk evaluation process as described in the statute and the associated Risk Evaluation Rule [to be issued in final on June 22, 2017], with the expectation to complete the risk evaluation in the 3-3.5 year timeframe required by law.”
The list of ten chemicals and their corresponding docket ID numbers are:
- 1, 4 Dioxane, EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0723;
- Methylene Chloride, EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0742;
- 1-Bromopropane, EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0741;
- N-Methylpyrolidone (NMP), EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0743;
- Asbestos, EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0736;
- Pigment Violet 29, EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0725;
- Carbon Tetrachloride, EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0733;
- Trichloroethylene, EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0737;
- Cyclic Aliphatic Bromide Cluster (HBCD), EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0735; and
- Tetrachloroethylene, EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0732.
Revised TSCA requires that the three framework rules, which include the procedures for evaluating existing chemical risks rule (Risk Evaluation Rule), the procedures to prioritize chemicals for risk evaluation rule, and the requirements for TSCA Inventory notification (active-inactive) rule, be issued in final by June 22, 2017.
More information on these framework rules will be available on our blog after they are issued in final.