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May 27, 2021

TSCA Section 4 and Consortia Formation — A Conversation with Heather Blankinship and Richard Engler, Ph.D.

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.

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This week, I sat down with Heather J. Blankinship, Senior Manager with B&C® Consortia Management (BCCM), a Bergeson & Campbell (B&C®) affiliate, and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., B&C’s Director of Chemistry, to discuss chemical testing under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Since Congress amended TSCA in 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been slowly ratcheting up required chemical testing under TSCA Section 4. Congress gave EPA expanded testing authority under the 2016 Amendments, and EPA is exercising its new authority to compel chemical data production. These test orders authorize EPA to demand the production of new test data by the manufacturers and sometimes processors of the chemical substances at issue. Transactionally, this means that competitors in the marketplace band together to generate the data EPA seeks. We discuss the reality of quickly forming these consortia and the business and scientific challenges consortia managers face in complying with these federally enforceable test orders. It is not as easy as you may think!

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