All Knowledge & Insights By Date

On April 27, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the draft risk evaluation of perchloroethylene. According to EPA, it reviewed 68 conditions of use and preliminarily found unreasonable risk to workers, occupational non-users (ONUs), consumers, bystanders, and the environment from certain uses. EPA will use feedback received from the peer review and public comment process to inform the final risk evaluation. EPA notes that if its final risk evaluation finds there are...

Under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authority to collect fees from chemical manufacturers and importers to defray a portion of the EPA costs associated with implementation efforts. The EPA fees rule, which became effective on October 18, 2018, required payment of fees for eight categories of fee-triggering events under TSCA, including EPA-initiated risk evaluations under TSCA Section 6. As part of the final fees rule, EPA...

On April 17, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the draft scope documents for the remaining seven of the 20 chemicals designated as high-priority substances for risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The draft scope documents include the proposed conditions of use, hazards, exposures, and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations EPA expects to consider in the risk evaluations. The documents also include: a description of...

On April 17, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the draft scope documents for the remaining seven of the 20 chemicals designated as high-priority substances for risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The draft scope documents include the proposed conditions of use, hazards, exposures, and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations EPA expects to consider in the risk evaluations. The documents also include: a description of...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on April 6, 2020, that the first set of draft scope documents for the next group of chemicals undergoing risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is available for comment. EPA released draft scope documents for 13 of the next 20 chemicals undergoing risk evaluation, and stated that it will soon release and accept public comments on the seven remaining draft scope documents. According to EPA, the scope...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the draft risk evaluation of asbestos on March 30, 2020. EPA will publish a notice of availability in the Federal Register, beginning a 60-day comment period. EPA will hold a virtual peer review meeting of the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) on the draft risk evaluation April 27-30, 2020. The virtual peer review meeting is open to the public to attend and provide...

On March 18, 2020, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGO) filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), claiming that EPA fails to disclose information about new chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to the plaintiffs’ complaint, EPA fails to publish full and complete notices of its receipt of new chemical applications in a timely fashion and does not disclose...

On March 17, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of a final rule amending the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule. According to EPA, the amendments are intended to reduce the burden for certain CDR reporters, improve the quality of CDR data collected, and align reporting requirements with the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act’s (Lautenberg Act) amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA states that...

Given the considerable industry stakeholder confusion and angst that has arisen related to the January 27, 2020, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Federal Register notice on 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), EPA leadership has repeatedly stated that EPA is considering options to...

Today as never before, the old adage “there is strength in numbers” rings true. As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to implement the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), industry stakeholders are recognizing the immense importance of working within consortia to leverage resources, reduce cost, and increase opportunities for successful results. EPA statements in connection with TSCA implementation have repeatedly reinforced its expectation that industry will...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on February 20, 2020, a proposed supplemental significant new use rule (SNUR) for long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylate (LCPFAC) chemical substances that would make inapplicable the exemption for persons who import a subset of LCPFAC chemical substances as part of surface coatings on articles. Under the proposed supplemental SNUR, issued under Section 5(a)(2) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), this subset of LCPFAC chemical...

On February 19, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a pre-publication version of its final rule on procedures for review of confidential business information (CBI) claims made under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The final rule includes the requirements for regulated entities to substantiate certain CBI claims made under TSCA to protect the specific chemical identities of chemical substances on the confidential portion of the TSCA Inventory, and...

On February 21, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the draft risk evaluation of trichloroethylene (TCE), “a chemical used as a solvent and an intermediate for refrigerant manufacture in industrial and commercial processes, and with limited consumers uses like as a spot cleaner in dry cleaning facilities.” The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) will meet on March 24-26, 2020, to peer...

On February 24, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted a conference call to review certain provisions of the final rule on fees for the administration of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), particularly those related to EPA-initiated risk evaluations. EPA published a Federal Register notice on January 27, 2020, identifying the preliminary lists of manufacturers (including importers) of the 20 high-priority chemical substances for risk...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on February 20, 2020, the final list of 20 chemical substances designated as low-priority substances for which risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is not warranted at this time. EPA has posted a pre-publication version of the Federal Register notice. The notice includes the final designation for each of the chemical substances and instructions on how to access the...

Federal enforcement of chemical product laws is alive and well, despite a broadly held misconception to the contrary. We have seen over the past 18 months or so an uptick in federal enforcement under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). We write to alert you to this fact and focus here on TSCA enforcement, as we believe we will see this trend continue in 2020. We will devote a second client alert to FIFRA enforcement....

On January 24, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the draft risk evaluation of carbon tetrachloride, “a solvent primarily used in the manufacturing of chlorinated compounds and petrochemicals.” Carbon tetrachloride is the seventh of the first ten chemicals to undergo risk evaluation under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA published a Federal Register notice on January 27, 2020, announcing the availability of the draft risk...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on December 20, 2019, an updated version of the “Working Approach” document that builds upon EPA’s November 2017 “New Chemicals Decision-Making Framework: Working Approach to Making Determinations under Section 5 of TSCA.” EPA states that the updated document, “TSCA New Chemical Determinations: A Working Approach for Making Determinations under TSCA Section 5,” explains its approach for making one of the five affirmative...

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 the safety of...

On November 4, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of the draft risk evaluation for N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), which includes more than 30 uses of NMP in adhesives, sealants, paints and arts and craft paints, paint and coating removers, adhesive removers, and degreasers. In the draft risk evaluation, EPA has made a preliminary determination that NMP does not present risks to the environment, bystanders, or occupational non-users (ONU)....