All Knowledge & Insights By Date

No discussion of energy issues would be complete without some mention of the utility of used plastic as a feedstock in the production of fuels, energy and building block chemicals. In spring 2023, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution (Strategy) to identify voluntary actions to prevent plastic waste. Plastics recycling, including both mechanical and ‘advanced’, is core to achieving improved post-use plastics materials...

On December 6, 2023, a group of Republican Representatives sent a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan regarding EPA’s risk evaluation of existing chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to the letter, the Representatives are “concerned that the EPA is using TSCA section 6 in a way that both subverts and supplants the statutory responsibilities of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).” The letter...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on December 1, 2023, that it issued orders to Inhance Technologies LLC directing it not to produce per- and polyfluroakyl substances (PFAS), “chemicals that are created in the production of its fluorinated high-density polyethylene [high-density polyethylene (HDPE)] plastic containers.” EPA states that in December 2022, Inhance submitted significant new use notices (SNUN) for nine long-chain PFAS. According to EPA, “[u]pon review of...

Under a November 20, 2023, final order of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), Ultium Cells LLC (Ultium) and General Motors Company (GM) have entered into a consent agreement with EPA concerning alleged violations of Section 5(a)(1) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to the consent agreement, the respondents voluntarily disclosed to EPA that three chemical substances were manufactured (imported) “a number of times between...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued on November 15, 2023, its report on EPA’s fiscal year (FY) 2024 top management challenges. OIG states that the report “summarizes what the inspector general considers to be ‘the most serious management and performance challenges facing the agency’” for FY 2024 and briefly assesses EPA’s progress in addressing those challenges. According to OIG, the management challenges include “Safeguarding...

The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) announced on November 14, 2023, that it will partner with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on a research project “to assess and refine methods of evaluating potential alternatives to [N-(1,3-Dimethylbutyl)-N′-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD)] for use in tires.” As reported in our November 3, 2023, blog item, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted a petition filed under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on October 31, 2023, to ban all uses of  trichloroethylene (TCE) after determining that it presents an unreasonable risk of injury to human health under its conditions of use as documented in EPA’s November 2020 risk evaluation (2020 TCE RE) and January 2023 revised risk determination (2023 Revised RD) pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 88 Fed. Reg. 74712. According to EPA’s October 23, 2023, press...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 19, 2023, a proposed rule that would amend the procedural framework rule for conducting risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2023, the proposed rule states that the purpose of risk evaluations under TSCA is to determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, without considering costs or...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 20, 2023, the release of a final rule that is intended to improve reporting on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) by eliminating an exemption that allowed facilities to avoid reporting information on PFAS when those chemicals were used in small concentrations. The final rule will add PFAS subject to reporting under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and...

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) announced on September 20, 2023, that together with the Texas Chemical Council, it submitted a 60-day notice of intent to file suit for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) failure to complete manufacturer-requested risk evaluations (MRRE) for diisononyl phthalate (DINP) and diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). ACC states that EPA failed to complete the MRREs by TSCA’s mandatory deadline of three years and...