On November 13, 2025, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) held a webinar to discuss potential changes to its Enforcement Response Regulations set forth at 3 C.C.R. Sections 6128 and 6130. DPR also released its Discussion Document explaining the various regulatory “concepts” it is considering and posing questions for public input related to those concepts. The proposed focus areas are designed to address areas of improvement identified in a U.S. Environmental...
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The state of Oregon’s packaging and paper Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program, enacted in 2021, has progressed into its enforcement stage. With the first fee obligations and real-world compliance deadlines now in place, the risk of litigation under and against the program has transitioned from theoretical to real. In July 2025, a major trade association, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), filed a constitutional challenge to Oregon’s law, raising issues that are...
As the federal government endures another prolonged shutdown, uncertainty is rippling through every agency, with the impact clearly visible at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With only a fraction of staff on duty and most routine operations halted, the chemical and pesticide regulatory landscape faces a new round of challenges in both the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) and the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP). EPA’s September 29, 2025, contingency plan...
September 30, 2025
Looming Government Shutdown Could Disrupt Chemical Regulation under TSCA
As Congress edges closer to another potential government shutdown, questions loom large about how federal agencies will manage critical regulatory responsibilities. For the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), even a short lapse in appropriations and critical staffing could have significant consequences for the implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). TSCA is built around statutory deadlines. For example, there are strict timelines for new chemical reviews under Section...
On April 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an unopposed motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for voluntary dismissal of its appeal of an October 2024 decision finding that eBay is immune from liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. USA v. eBay, No. 24-3104. As reported in our September 28, 2023, memorandum, in September 2023, DOJ, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), filed a complaint in the U.S. District...
On January 17, 2025, days before the end of President Biden’s term, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released two new enforcement documents: (1) Expedited Settlement Agreement (ESA) Pilot Program Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (FIFRA Settlement Pilot Program or Pilot Program); and (2) Interim Consolidated Enforcement Response and Penalty Policy (Interim CERPP) for the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) New and Existing Chemicals Program....
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) has posted an April 17, 2024, memorandum regarding “Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy” from David M. Uhlmann, OECA Assistant Administrator. The Strategic Civil-Criminal Enforcement Policy sets forth requirements to ensure that EPA’s enforcement program maintains and strengthens the strategic partnership between civil and criminal enforcement. According to the Policy, to promote...
March 12, 2024
EPA Announces Settlement with Haifa North America to Resolve Alleged TSCA Reporting Violations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 6, 2024, a settlement requiring Haifa North America, Inc. (Haifa) to pay a civil penalty of $664,267 “for violations of chemical data reporting regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).” EPA states that it alleged that Haifa failed to submit a data report required under TSCA for 32 chemical substances that Haifa had imported between 2016 and 2019. According to EPA, Haifa imports “various chemicals for...
October 13, 2023
Uhlmann Confirms EPA Will Not Pursue PFAS Enforcement Actions against Farmers, Public Airports, and Municipal Wastewater Facilities
The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) is holding its 31st fall conference October 11-13, 2023, in Washington, D.C. On October 12, 2023, in his remarks at the conference, David Uhlmann, Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), stated that EPA will not pursue per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) enforcement actions against farmers who used biosolids,...
September 28, 2023
EPA and DOJ Claim eBay Unlawfully Sold Pesticides, Banned Chemical Products, and Devices That Defeat Pollution Controls on Motor Vehicles
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 27, 2023, that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), on behalf of EPA, filed a complaint against eBay Inc. (eBay) “for unlawfully selling, offering for sale, causing the sale of, and distributing hundreds of thousands of products” in violation of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to EPA, the complaint seeks a...