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Background The Senate over the past several years has considered a number of legislative texts to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). These include the Safer Chemicals Act, several versions of which were introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), with the most recent in 2013, and the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (S. 1009, CSIA) introduced by Senators Lautenberg and David Vitter (R-LA) in 2013. Senator Lautenberg died shortly after CSIA's introduction and over...

New York Times (March 6, 2015)" data-title="TSCA Reform: "Tom Udall's Unlikely Alliance With the Chemical Industry" New York Times (March 6, 2015)"> Headlines in The New York Times (NYT) describing a cozy relationship between a liberal Democratic Senator from New Mexico and the chemical industry is not a common occurrence. In this case, understanding the coverage reveals the story of an even more sordid and murky world of political infighting, nasty and...

On January 21, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed amendment to a significant new use rule (SNUR) for long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylate (LCPFAC) chemicals. According to EPA's January 15, 2015, press release, EPA intends the proposed amendment "to ensure that perfluorinated chemicals that have been phased out do not re-enter the marketplace without review." The proposed amendment would require anyone who intends to import these perfluorinated...

Click here for a PDF version of the memorandum. 2015 will be a very interesting year. There are two overarching considerations that will make the year more difficult to predict than merely assuming most of this year's issues will simply be extensions of past issues, with a few new initiatives sprinkled in. First, the new Republican majority in the Senate will change the dynamic between the Executive and Legislative branches. Second, the Obama Administration will begin its lame duck status as it...

On December 17, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is taking action to protect the public from certain chemicals that it states have the potential to cause a range of health effects from cancer to reproductive and developmental harm to people and aquatic organisms. EPA's press release, "EPA Prevents Harmful Chemicals from Entering the Marketplace," includes a quote from Jim Jones, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 23, 2014, that it has updated its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Work Plan for Chemical Assessments. According to EPA, the updated TSCA Work Plan reflects updated data submitted to EPA on chemical releases and potential exposures that EPA received as part of the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule and the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program. EPA removed or consolidated 16 chemicals, most of which are believed to be...

On October 1, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) for 15 related chemical substances commonly known as nonylphenols (NP) and nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE). For 13 NPs and NPEs, EPA would designate any use as a "significant new use," and for two additional NPs, EPA would designate that any use other than use as an intermediate or use as an epoxy cure catalyst would constitute a "significant new use." Persons subject to the SNURs would be...

Following the release last week of our Firm Clients and Friends Memorandum "Summary of Changes in the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA, S. 1009) and the Boxer TSCA Version Released September 18, 2014," Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C®) received copies of a number of documents relating to what is now described as the "Udall-Vitter Discussion Draft" (U-V DD) of the original CSIA (CSIA1). The documents obtained include: A version of the clean, revised text of U-V DD, which is...

This analysis reviews the changes made to the original version of the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA) (identified as CSIA1 in this memorandum) based on Senator Barbara Boxer's (D-CA) version of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform legislation released on September 18, 2014 (Boxer TSCA). This analysis attempts to analyze both the interim changes made to the bill and the changes that appear as underlined text in Boxer TSCA. Boxer TSCA was reportedly created by Senator Boxer by a...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on August 28, 2014, final risk assessments for three Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Work Plan chemicals -- methylene chloride or dichloromethane (DCM), antimony trioxide (ATO), and 1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8,-hexamethylcyclopenta-[γ]-2-benzopyran (HHCB). The much anticipated release of these assessments marks a real milestone for EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), and EPA is to be commended for...

The Democratic Minority has circulated a redline version of the April 22, 2014, discussion draft of the Chemicals in Commerce Act (CICA2). A copy of the redline version of CICA2 is available online. The redline version is an interesting mix of substantial rewrites, deletions, and additions. The redline version, which we will refer to as CICA2-D to distinguish it from CICA2 and the original discussion draft, CICA1, proposes changes that favorably respond to numerous non-governmental...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the May 19, 2014, Federal Register an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to seek comment on the information that should be reported or disclosed for hydraulic fracturing chemical substances and mixtures and the mechanism for obtaining this information. According to EPA, this mechanism could be regulatory (under Sections 8(a) and/or 8(d) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)), voluntary, or a combination...

On April 29, 2014, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a hearing to review a revised draft of the Chemicals in Commerce Act (CICA2). Representative John Shimkus (R-IL), Chair of the Subcommittee, released CICA2 on April 22, 2014. According to Shimkus, since he first released the discussion draft in March 2014 (CICA1), he has been working on a bipartisan basis to find common ground to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). More information...

On April 22, 2014, Representative John Shimkus (R-IL), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on April 29, 2014, to review a revised draft of the Chemicals in Commerce Act (CICA2). According to Shimkus, the revised draft "reflects suggestions from members on both sides of the aisle, as well as stakeholders and the administration." CICA would reform the Toxic Substances Control...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice on April 4, 2014, announcing that it issued a testing consent order that incorporates an enforceable consent agreement (ECA) for octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), a chemical intermediate and component of personal care products. 79 Fed. Reg. 18822. There are two big take away messages here. First, that EPA issued a testing order at all under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 4 is big news as none has been issued in a...

On March 12, 2014, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a hearing focused on the discussion draft of the Chemicals in Commerce Act (CICA). On February 27, 2014, Representative John Shimkus (R-IL), Chair of the Subcommittee, released a much anticipated discussion draft that would update the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The March 12 hearing was intended to provide the Subcommittee an opportunity to review the provisions of CICA. An analysis of the...

On February 27, 2014, Representative John Shimkus (R-IL), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, released a much anticipated discussion draft that would update the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to Shimkus' press release, the Chemicals in Commerce Act (CICA) "keys off" S. 1009, the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA), which was introduced on May 22, 2013, by the late Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Senator David Vitter...

On February 4, 2014, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a hearing entitled "Testing of Chemicals and Reporting and Retention of Information under TSCA Sections 4 and 8." This was the fifth hearing on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) convened by the Subcommittee. The Subcommittee held oversight hearings on June 13, 2013, July 11, 2013, September 18, 2013, and November 13, 2013, that reviewed several core sections of Title I of TSCA and proposed...

On November 12, 2013, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decision ordering Respondent Elementis Chromium Inc., f/k/a Elementis Chromium, LP (Elementis or Company), to pay a $2,571,800 civil penalty for violating Section 8(e) and Section 15(3)(B) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The decision is available online. Although the case is highly fact-specific, the decision, if upheld under any potential appeal, may be used...

The Acta Group (Acta) outlines below thoughts on what may be headed our way in 2014 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP). We also offer a few thoughts on European and Asian developments pertinent to chemical regulatory matters. Although President Obama is well into his second term, the 2014 off-year elections, combined with the bitter partisan atmosphere in Washington, D.C., will result in a continuing use of...