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 of becoming a distracting afterthought. Stakeholders must develop new strategies to survive and flourish in these fast-changing times.

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 the past several years and recognizing that reporting under the TSCA Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule is just around the corner, a critically important question is whether chemicals that would otherwise fit within the Section 8(b)(2) categories are subject to reporting under the CDR. This article examines this question by considering the regulatory history and guidance, prior reporting that has occurred, and business issues associated with the question.

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).

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on December 28, 2011, significant new use rules (SNURs) for 17 chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMN), including seven substances with the term carbon nanotube (CNT) and seven substances with the term fullerene in their respective names. These 14 substances are subject to consent orders under Section 5(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This column provides background on, and the implications of, these proposed SNURs.

Chemical data reporting under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) just got a lot harder. That’s because on August 16, 2011, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) issued its final Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule, previously referred to as the Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) Rule.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on August 16, 2011, the final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule, previously referred to as the Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) Modifications Rule. 76 Fed. Reg. 50816. The rule authorizes EPA to collect and disclose information on the manufacturing, processing, and use of commercial chemical substances and mixtures listed on the TSCA Inventory. The CDR Rule also sets the upcoming submission period from February 1, 2012, to June 30, 2012, and will include submission of chemical production information from 2010 and chemical production, processing, and use information from 2011.

On Aug. 18, 2011, EPA rolled out its new approach for identifying priority chemicals for review and assessment under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA invited public input on its Discussion Guide: Background and Discussion Questions for Identifying Priority Chemicals for Review and Assessment (Discussion Guide), which is available at www.epa.gov/opptintr/existingchemicals/pubs/chempridiscguide.html, and convened a webinar on Sept. 7, 2011 to review the document.

Several key issues have emerged as pivotal in ongoing efforts to reform TSCA. Progress on these complex issues is central to the success of TSCA reform. On July 21, 2011, ELI convened a panel of experts to examine the central issue of whether and what standard of safety should replace TSCA’s current “unreasonable risk” standard for regulating chemicals. Topics addressed included: hazard/exposure/risk criteria; burden of proof; judicial review of Agency decisions; sensitive populations; cost-benefit analysis; and application of the safety standard to new materials/technologies.

On August 16, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule, previously referred to as the Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) Modifications Rule. The CDR Rule expands the IUR to enable EPA to collect information on the manufacturing (including importing), processing, and use of commercial chemical sub­ stances and mixtures on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory (Inventory). This article provides highlights of the final rule.