All Knowledge & Insights By Date

As reported in our February 13, 2025, blog item, on January 17, 2025, the Biden U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a notice of appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California’s 2024 decision finding that the Plaintiffs established by a preponderance of the evidence that the levels of fluoride typical in drinking water in the United States pose an unreasonable risk of injury to the health of the public....

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website, EPA received a petition on January 6, 2026, under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regarding certain chemicals in consumer laundry detergents. The petition requests that EPA initiate a TSCA Section 6(a) rulemaking regarding the following chemical substances that are “widely used in consumer liquid laundry detergents”: Sodium C10-16 alkylbenzenesulfonate; Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES); and 1,4-Dioxane...

As reported in our May 30, 2025, blog item, on May 15, 2025, the Center for Environmental Accountability (CEA) filed a petition under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requesting that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reconsider the 2024 final rule regarding procedures for chemical risk evaluation under TSCA and initiate a rulemaking to amend certain provisions in 40 C.F.R. Part 702, subpart B. According to CEA, the current process “has led to overly...

As reported in our February 13, 2025, blog item, on January 17, 2025, the Biden U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a notice of appeal of the September 2024 lower court decision finding that the plaintiffs established by a preponderance of the evidence that the levels of fluoride typical in drinking water in the United States pose an unreasonable risk of injury to the health of the public. Food & Water Watch v. EPA (No. 25-384). At that time, it was unknown how the Trump EPA...

As reported in our May 14, 2025, blog item, on May 12, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a petition filed under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) seeking to prohibit the use of hydrogen fluoride in domestic oil refining through a TSCA Section 6(a) rulemaking. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) announced on July 9, 2025, that after EPA denied their petition, community and environmental non-governmental organizations (NGO) filed suit in the...

As reported in our May 13, 2025, blog item, on March 24, 2025, PPG Industries, Inc. (PPG) submitted a petition seeking an amendment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) December 2024 final risk management rule for trichloroethylene (TCE). PPG requested an amendment to the exemption for the industrial and commercial use of TCE as a processing aid for specialty polymeric microporous sheet materials manufacturing that would allow PPG to meet an interim existing chemical exposure...

On May 27, 2025, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to reconsider the final risk management rule for trichloroethylene (TCE). ACC requests that EPA reconsider and amend two provisions of the rule: Revise the byproduct exclusion in 40 C.F.R. Section 751.301(c) by removing the “site-limited” restriction that requires byproduct TCE to be reused as a “part of the same overall...

On May 15, 2025, the Center for Environmental Accountability (CEA) filed a petition under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requesting that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reconsider the 2024 final rule regarding procedures for chemical risk evaluation under TSCA and initiate a rulemaking to amend certain provisions in 40 C.F.R. Part 702, subpart B. According to CEA, the current process “has led to overly conservative risk conclusions and, in turn,...

As reported in our May 4, 2025, blog item, on May 2, 2025, a coalition of chemical companies petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for an amendment of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a)(7) rule requiring reporting for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The petitioners ask that EPA revise the reporting rule to exclude imported articles, research and development (R&D) materials, impurities, byproducts, non-isolated intermediates, and PFAS...

As reported in our February 14, 2025, blog item, on February 11, 2025, community and environmental groups submitted a petition under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prohibit the use of hydrogen fluoride in domestic oil refining “to eliminate the extreme and unreasonable risks this use presents to public health and the environment.” On May 12, 2025, EPA denied the petition, stating that the request to initiate a...