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This week, I discuss with Patricia Underwood, Ph.D., DABT, MBA, Chief Toxicologist, Principal Director – Chemical and Material Risk Management, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Department of Defense, and my colleague, Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta®), our consulting affiliate, the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) recent Request for Information (RFI) on chemicals undergoing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...

On May 27, 2025, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) issued a request for information (RFI) to gather information to identify and assess critical applications for DOD and the defense industrial base (DIB) that necessitate the use of existing chemicals undergoing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 6 risk evaluation process. The RFI states that it will help the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations,...

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...

On March 24, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided an update on the effective date of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) final risk management rule for trichloroethylene (TCE). As reported in our January 13, 2025, memorandum, on December 17, 2024, EPA issued a final rule prohibiting all uses of TCE, most of which would be prohibited within one year, including TCE manufacture and processing for most commercial and all consumer products. As...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released final risk management rules under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) on December 9, 2024, and for carbon tetrachloride (CTC) on December 11, 2024. EPA states that all uses of TCE will be banned over time, with “the vast majority of identified risks eliminated within one year,” and safer alternatives readily available for the majority of uses. The PCE rule will ban...

On December 31, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of and solicited comment on the preliminary lists of manufacturers (including importers) subject to fees for the next five chemicals undergoing risk evaluation under Section 6(b) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 89 Fed. Reg. 107099. The five chemicals that have been designated as High-Priority Substances (HPS) for risk evaluation and for which fees will be charged are acetaldehyde (Chemical...

Download transcript. Recognizing it has much to do and little time to complete its tasks, the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) has been issuing final rules at a fast and furious rate since the election last month. This week, I discuss OPPT’s to-do list with my colleague, Dr. Richard E. Engler, Director of Chemistry for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta®), our consulting affiliate. In addition to multiple final Section 6 risk management rules,...

On November 13, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of its final supplement to the risk evaluation and revised unreasonable risk determination for 1,4-dioxane under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 89 Fed. Reg. 89993. EPA states in the Federal Register notice that it “used the best available science to prepare this final supplement to the risk evaluation and has determined that 1,4-dioxane poses unreasonable risk to human health.” EPA notes...

On August 1, 2023, Earthjustice filed a petition under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish regulations prohibiting the manufacturing, processing, use, and distribution of the chemical N-(1,3-Dimethylbutyl)-N′-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD) for and in tires. Earthjustice filed the petition on behalf of the Yurok Tribe, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, and EPA granted the...

On September 30, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested public comment on the manufacture of certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), during the fluorination of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and other plastic containers to inform regulations as appropriate under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 89 Fed. Reg. 79581. EPA notes that this request for...