The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice on January 27, 2020, identifying the preliminary lists of manufacturers (including importers) of the 20 chemical substances that EPA designated as high-priority substances for risk evaluation and for which fees will be charged. 85 Fed. Reg. 4661. During the comment period, manufacturers (including importers) are required to self-identify as manufacturers of a high-priority substance irrespective of whether...
Archives
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 15, 2020, that it is partnering with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Physicians for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) to host public webinars on various topics related to reducing, refining, or replacing vertebrate animal testing. A webinar will be held on January 22, 2020, covering the use and application of the Collaborative Acute Toxicity Modeling Suite (CATMoS), a free resource for screening organic...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on December 20, 2019, the final list of high-priority chemicals. These chemicals will be the next 20 chemicals to undergo risk evaluation under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to EPA, issuing the final list of high-priority chemicals for risk evaluation “represents the final step in the prioritization process outlined in TSCA and marks another major TSCA milestone for EPA in its efforts to ensure...
December 20, 2019
NAS Will Peer Review EPA’s TSCA Systematic Review Approach
By Lynn L. Bergeson On December 13, 2019, EPA announced that it has contracted the National Academies of Science (NAS) to conduct a peer review of its Application of Systematic Review in TSCA Risk Evaluations. According to EPA, this review will help provide it with important feedback on its approach to selecting and reviewing the scientific studies that are used to inform Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluations. EPA states that “integrating systematic review principles...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 18, 2019, that it is extending the public comment period for the draft risk evaluation of N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) to give stakeholders more time to review and comment on the draft document. Comments are now due January 21, 2020. EPA states that it will use feedback received from the public comment process, along with input from the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC), to inform the final risk evaluation for...
December 16, 2019
NAS Will Peer Review EPA’s TSCA Systematic Review Approach
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 13, 2019, that it contracted the National Academies of Science (NAS) to conduct a peer review of its Application of Systematic Review in TSCA Risk Evaluations. According to EPA, this review will help provide it with important feedback on its approach to selecting and reviewing the scientific studies that are used to inform Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluations. EPA states that “[i]ntegrating...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 2, 2019, that it granted the first two manufacturer requests for risk evaluations for diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and diisononyl phthalate (DINP), two chemicals used in plastic production. EPA states that if the requests are not withdrawn within 30 days, both DIDP and DINP will enter the risk evaluation process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Manufacturer-requested risk evaluations are conducted in the same...
November 21, 2019
Ninth Circuit Issues Decision in Case Challenging EPA’s Prioritization and Risk Evaluation Rules
On November 14, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its decision in a case challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) prioritization and risk evaluation rules. Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families v. EPA, No. 17-72260. Petitioners argued that provisions in the risk evaluation rule relating to EPA’s evaluation of the risks from a substance’s “conditions of use” violate several of the Toxic Substances Control Act’s (TSCA) requirements. ...
November 15, 2019
Comments on EPA’s 20 Proposed Low-Priority Chemical Substances Due November 13, 2019
On August 13, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the list of 20 chemical substances that it proposes to designate as low-priority substances for which risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is not warranted at this time. EPA’s August 15, 2019, proposed rule provides a summary of the approach used by EPA to support the proposed designations, the proposed designations for each of the chemical substances, and instructions on how to access the...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice on November 7, 2019, announcing the availability of the draft risk evaluation for N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) and soliciting public comment. 84 Fed. Reg. 60087. EPA’s draft risk evaluation findings include: EPA did not find risk to the environment, bystanders, or occupational non-users. For all the conditions of use included in the draft risk evaluation, EPA has preliminarily...