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February 4, 2021

How will the Biden Administration Interpret Amended TSCA? — A Conversation with Richard E. Engler, Ph.D

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.

A change in Administration invites a sense of both excitement and anxiety.  Nowhere is this ambivalence more present that in the minds of regulated entities subject to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  After four years of the Trump Administration’s implementation of the many TSCA amendments occasioned by Lautenberg, regulated entities and other stakeholders have come to understand the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) interpretation of revised TSCA.  Not everyone agrees with these views, but they are known.  What is unclear is whether the Biden Administration will continue these interpretations or go back to the drawing board.

This week I sat down with Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., B&C’s Director of Chemistry, to explore exactly this question.  We discuss some of the many uncertainties facing businesses as the new administration begins.  Key new terms like “conditions of use” and “reasonably foreseen” have been defined over the past years, and regulated entities have much riding on their known definitions.  Rich walks us through how a new Administration might see things differently and what businesses might expect in the months ahead.  Rich also shares his view on how the Trump EPA did in meeting its statutory obligations under TSCA, how the Courts are viewing EPA’s implementation efforts, and what to watch out for in the Biden EPA.

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