All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On June 11, 2021, the Office and Management and Budget released its “Spring 2021 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions” (Regulatory Agenda). It includes an entry for an interim final rule planned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entitled “Regulation of Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Chemicals Under TSCA Section 6(h); Reconsideration and Extension of Certain Compliance Dates.” This action, planned for publication in September 2021, would...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on May 27, 2021, that it has invited environmental justice communities and stakeholders to participate in environmental justice consultations regarding the development of a proposed risk management action under Section 6(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to address unreasonable risks presented by N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP). EPA will hold two identical consultation webinars, one on July 7, 2021, and the other on July...

On May 21, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its response to a portion of the petition it received February 8, 2021, from People for Protecting Peace River, Center for Biological Diversity, and 16 other organizations. 86 Fed. Reg. 27546. While the petition requested three actions related to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA states that it has determined that only one of those actions is an appropriate request: a request to issue...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice on April 28, 2021, announcing a 30-day comment period on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Interagency Testing Committee’s (ITC) revisions to the Priority Testing List.  86 Fed. Reg. 22414.  In the 74th ITC Report, ITC revised the TSCA Section 4(e) Priority Testing List by adding the following 15 high-priority substances designated pursuant to TSCA Section 6(b) and 24 organohalogen...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a webinar on February 3, 2021, “to educate stakeholders on the risk management process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the findings in the final risk evaluation for Asbestos Part 1:  Chrysotile Asbestos.”  EPA states that the webinar will also give the public an opportunity to provide input on considerations the agency should take into account for managing these unreasonable risks.  Stakeholders who wish to...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on January 5, 2021, that it is inviting small businesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations to participate as Small Entity Representatives (SER) to provide advice and recommendations to two Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panels. One Panel will focus on EPA’s development of a proposed rule to address unreasonable risks identified in EPA’s recently completed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation...

On January 6, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final rules under Section 6(h) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for five persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals — 2,4,6-tris(tert-butyl)phenol (2,4,6-TTBP) (86 Fed. Reg. 866); decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) (86 Fed. Reg. 880); hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) (86 Fed. Reg. 922); pentachlorothiophenol (PCTP) (86 Fed. Reg. 911); and phenol,...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 8, 2020, that it received a complete manufacturer request to conduct a risk evaluation of octahydro-tetramethyl-naphthalenyl-ethanone (OTNE), a category of chemical substances consisting of four inseparable individual isomers.  International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc., Privi Organics USA Corporation, and DRT America, Inc. formally requested the risk evaluation through the OTNE Consortium managed by B&C® Consortia...

On November 25, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released updates to the interim final list of manufacturers and importers subject to fees for the next 20 chemicals undergoing risk evaluation under Section 6(b) of the Toxic Substances Control Act.  According to EPA, “[t]he updated list includes additional manufacturers not identified on the final list of companies and removes manufacturers that self-identified in error or imported the chemical solely for the...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 9, 2020, that it is inviting small businesses, governments, and not-for-profits to participate as Small Entity Representatives (SER) to provide advice and recommendations to a Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel for the cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster (HBCD).  The Panel will focus on EPA’s development of a proposed rule to address unreasonable risks identified in EPA’s recently completed Toxic Substances Control...