Archives

September 9, 2024

Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Publishes Compliance Guide on Methylene Chloride,” Chemical Processing, September 9, 2024.

On July 10, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a compliance guide for its final methylene chloride risk management rule issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The final rule is complicated, and the compliance guide is a useful document for stakeholders to consider reading. ...
July 30, 2024

EPA Publishes Compliance Guide for Final Methylene Chloride Risk Management Rule

On July 10, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a compliance guide for its final methylene chloride risk management rule issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to EPA, the compliance guide will help industry, workers, and other interested stakeholders understand and comply with the new regulations to prevent injuries, long-term illnesses, and deaths. EPA also announced that in June 2024, it released a fact sheet on the rule containing...
June 10, 2024

Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Bans Most Uses of Methylene Chloride,” Chemical Processing, June 10, 2024.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued on May 8, 2024, a final rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to address the unreasonable risk of injury to health presented by methylene chloride under its conditions of use (COU). To no one’s surprise, the EPA banned most uses of the chemical. However, surprisingly, the EPA also adopted a de minimis threshold to account for impurities and the unintended presence of methylene chloride. The final...
May 17, 2024

EPA Bans Most Uses of Methylene Chloride, Requires Stronger Worker Safety Requirements for Remaining Industrial Uses

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued on May 8, 2024, a final rule to address unreasonable risks of injury to health EPA identified caused by methylene chloride under its conditions of use (COU). 89 Fed. Reg. 39254. According to EPA, the final rule will prevent serious illness and death associated with uncontrolled exposures to methylene chloride by preventing consumer access methylene chloride and by restricting the industrial and commercial use of methylene chloride while...
May 1, 2024

Lynn L. Bergeson Quoted in Chemical Processing Article “EPA Finalizes Methylene Chloride Ban”

On April 30, 2024, comments by Lynn L. Bergeson were featured in Chemical Processing’s article on a recent Methylene Chloride ban. The public-comment period on the proposed ruling appears to have influenced the EPA’s decision to allow some uses of methylene chloride, including plastics and rubber manufacturing, said CP regulatory columnist Lynn Bergeson, a managing partner with Bergeson & Campbell P.C.  “The submitted monitoring data demonstrated for...
May 16, 2023

EPA Will Hold Webinar on Proposed Methylene Chloride Risk Management Rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on May 11, 2023, that it will hold a webinar on June 7, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) on its proposed rule under Section 6(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that would ban all consumer uses and most commercial uses of methylene chloride, “a chemical in commercial and consumer products known to cause serious health risks and even death.” As reported in our April 25, 2023, memorandum, EPA proposes prohibitions and...
May 4, 2023

EPA Proposes to Prohibit Most Uses of Methylene Chloride under TSCA Section 6(a)

On May 3, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to prohibit most uses of methylene chloride under Section 6(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 88 Fed. Reg. 28284. EPA states in its April 20, 2023, press release that its unreasonable risk determination for methylene chloride was driven by risks associated with workers, occupational non-users (ONU), consumers, and those in close proximity to a consumer use. EPA identified risks for adverse human...
September 9, 2022

EPA Webinars Will Kick off Public Engagement and Outreach on Risk Management under TSCA

 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 8, 2020, a “broad public engagement and outreach effort” to discuss how EPA will approach the rulemaking process to address unreasonable risks found in final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) chemical risk evaluations.  After issuing the first two final risk evaluations, methylene chloride and 1-bromopropane, EPA states that it “is moving into the risk management phase and is hosting a robust...
November 5, 2020

EPA Announces Environmental Justice Consultations on Risk Management Rulemakings for Methylene Chloride and 1-BP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 3, 2020, that it will hold webinars to consult with environmental justice communities on risk management for methylene chloride and 1-bromopropane (1-BP).  EPA states that the webinars are open to the public and will focus on the environmental justice impacts of EPA’s development of proposed rules to address the unreasonable risks identified in the final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluations for these...