EPA Extends Certain Compliance Dates for PCE and CTC Risk Management Rules

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule on July 28, 2026, extending certain compliance dates applicable to certain entities subject to the risk management rules for perchloroethylene (PCE) and carbon tetrachloride (CTC) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 91 Fed. Reg. 47145. EPA states that it is extending certain Workplace Chemical Protection Program (WCPP) compliance dates for non-federal owners and operators to match the existing compliance dates for federal agencies and their contractors. For both PCE and CTC, the final rule extends the compliance date for initial monitoring for inhalation exposure to June 21, 2027, and extends the compliance date to meet the existing chemical exposure limit (ECEL), establish a regulated area, institute a workplace information and training program, provide any required respiratory personal protective equipment (PPE), and establish a respiratory PPE program to September 20, 2027. EPA notes that for PCE, it is also extending the compliance date for federal entities to institute a workplace information and training program to September 20, 2027, and for non-federal entities to establish and implement an exposure control plan to December 20, 2027. The final rule was effective July 28, 2026.

Background

As reported in our August 1, 2025, blog item, on July 30, 2025, EPA requested public comment to inform its reconsideration of the December 2024 PCE risk management rule. 90 Fed. Reg. 35858. EPA invited public comment on all aspects of the final rule, including but not limited to any existing or anticipated implementation issues, experiences with the final rule since it took effect, and whether EPA should consider additional or alternative measures or approaches to address the unreasonable risk presented by PCE under the conditions of use (COU). EPA states that input on the following “is of particular interest”:

• The ECEL of 0.14 parts per million (ppm) as an eight-hour time weighted average (8-hr TWA) promulgated in the PCE final rule as part of the WCPP, including whether the use of a different exposure limit would be more appropriate to inform risk management. EPA states that different exposure limits might include but are not limited to: the acute non-cancer exposure limit of 0.50 ppm (8-hr TWA) and the lifetime cancer exposure limit of 0.47 ppm (8-hr TWA) as presented in the April 15, 2021, “Existing Chemical Exposure Limit (ECEL) for Occupational Use of Perchloroethylene” memorandum.

• COUs that EPA could contemplate subjecting to a WCPP as opposed to imposing a prohibition. According to EPA, “[i]nformation such as workplace controls currently in place or other information demonstrating how regulated parties could mitigate the unreasonable risk of PCE for the condition of use would be most helpful to the Agency.”

• The use of PCE in industrial dry cleaning processes, including workplace controls that reduce exposure to PCE and the performance of alternatives to PCE in these operations.

As reported in our October 15, 2025, blog item, on October 9, 2025, EPA requested comment on its 2024 final risk management rule for CTC. 90 Fed. Reg. 48203. EPA invited public comment on all aspects of the final rule, noting that it is specifically interested in additional information on the ECEL of 0.03 ppm as an 8-hour TWA promulgated in the CTC final rule as part of the WCPP, including feasibility of exposure monitoring and whether the use of a different exposure limit would be more appropriate to inform risk management.

In each case, EPA’s request for public comment followed the filing of legal challenges to the 2024 final rules, and EPA’s subsequent determination that the rules should be reconsidered through further rulemaking. In the notices requesting public comment, EPA states that it “intends to consider information received in response to this public comment solicitation, and other reasonably available information, to inform the development of any proposed rule to amend the” final rules as appropriate. More information on the December 2024 final risk management rules for PCE and CTC is available in our January 13, 2025, memorandum.

Final Rule Extending Compliance Deadlines

EPA’s July 23, 2026, press release states that “[t]his timeline adjustment does not weaken any existing protection and does not change the ultimate level of protection required.” EPA notes that its finding that PCE and CTC present an unreasonable risk to human health “is not changing, and the agency remains fully committed to TSCA’s mandate to protect workers and the public from these chemicals.” EPA notes that both risk management rules are also being challenged in court. According to EPA, setting compliance dates that facilities can realistically meet “makes these protections more durable and enforceable.” EPA’s substantive reconsideration of the risk management rules is ongoing, and EPA “intends to publish proposed rules later in 2026.”

PCE

According to the July 28, 2026, final rule, EPA is addressing unanticipated WCPP/ECEL implementation difficulties associated with the final PCE risk management rule for non-federal owners and operators due to challenges for facilities implementing WCPP/ECEL requirements for multiple chemicals simultaneously as described in public comments received after the rules were published. EPA states that it received comments from industry and trade organizations reporting that facilities subject to multiple WCPPs under TSCA Section 6 actions “may face significant resource constraints and logistical challenges in implementing overlapping requirements on separate timelines.” EPA considered this new information and “is taking action to ensure a reasonable transition period for WCPP/ECEL implementation and compliance dates that are as soon as practicable, consistent with TSCA section 6(d).”

CTC

The final rule also addresses unanticipated WCPP/ECEL implementation difficulties associated with the final CTC risk management rule for non-federal owners and operators due to limitations with available monitoring methods to measure adequately CTC exposure during tasks of short duration. According to EPA, it received comments from industry and trade organizations stating that there are no adequate monitoring methods for short-term tasks that can reliably measure down to the ECEL. EPA states that it has considered this new information and is taking action to ensure “a reasonable transition period for non-federal owners and operators and an initial monitoring compliance date and subsequent WCPP/ECEL compliance dates that are as soon as practicable, consistent with TSCA section 6(d).”

Commentary

This rule continues EPA’s practice of extending certain compliance dates as EPA wrestles with both the legal challenges to the rules and the difficulties related to implementation of the WCPPs. It remains to be seen if the ECELs imposed for CTC and PCE will withstand questions about whether either or both meet the scientific standard of TSCA Section 26. The litigation in both cases — which could help answer those questions — has been paused while EPA works in parallel on reconsideration of the underlying rules. The CTC challenge in the Eighth Circuit has been placed in abeyance indefinitely, and the PCE challenge in the Fifth Circuit is in abeyance until at least September 2026 absent another extension.

We also continue to wait patiently for indications on whether and how EPA in this Administration will modify its approaches to addressing unreasonable risk in TSCA Section 6 risk management rules. Stakeholders have yet to see in this Administration a proposed or final TSCA risk management rule that could provide some insight into how, for example, EPA will address identified risks to workers. That may change soon. According to the recently published 2026 Unified Agenda for EPA’s forthcoming regulatory actions, EPA plans to propose substantive updates to both the CTC and PCE rules this month, with final rules expected in July and September, respectively. In the interim, and with EPA’s final action to extend the compliance dates for CTC and PCE, impacted stakeholders may once again exhale.