Articles

If anyone is thinking big penalties under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) are a thing of the past, think again. On Feb. 7, 2012, EPA announced that the Dover Chemical Corp. has agreed to pay a $1.4 million civil penalty for the unauthorized manufacture of chemical substances at facilities in Dover, Ohio, and Hammond, Ind. The settlement resolves alleged violations of TSCA premanufacture notice (PMN) obligations for the production of various chlorinated paraffins. According to EPA, the...

On Oct.17, 2.011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its decision to lift the administrative stay of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) Section 313 toxic chemical release reporting requirements for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) (CAS No.7783 6-4). The decision, which is not without controversy, has important implications for any industry sector that emits H2S.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that Dover Chemical Corporation has agreed to pay a $1.4-million civil penalty for alleged violations of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) premanufacture notice (PMN) obligations for the production of various short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCP). This column explains why this enforcement action is noteworthy.

Most would agree that legislative reform of the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is long overdue. Few agree on what to change and how best to proceed. If you throw in the 2012 presidential election, you have gridlock. Commerce marches on, however, and with the Environmental Protection Agency reinventing TSCA implementation in innovative and effective ways, Reach setting the new global tone, and California creating a new template for sustainable consumer products, TSCA reform is at risk...

On December 19, 2011, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that it added 20 substances of very high concern (SVHC) to the Candidate List, which now includes 73 substances.

On January 26, 2012, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approving a pesticide product containing nanosilver under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). This article summarizes the lawsuit, explains what’s at stake, and discusses the lawsuit’s implications.

In August 2010, EPA announced that it was considering allowing the Swiss company HeiQ Materials Ag to enter the U.S. market with a new nanosilver pesticide and textile preservative, HeiQ AGS-20. On Dec. 1, 2011, the EPA issued a conditional registration for a pesticide product.

Based on written communications from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, questions have been raised as to the agency’s interpretation of the six chemical categories created under Toxic Substances Control Act Section 8(b)(2) authority. Chemicals long considered part of these well-established categories identified decades ago are complex reaction products that fall under the TSCA Section 8(b)(2) category listing. Given the statements from EPA over...

We offer our thoughts on what may be headed our way in 2012 with regard to reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and chemical management initiatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP).