INSIDE TSCA

EPA Faces Split On Whether To Assess PBT Risks Absent TSCA Mandate

EPA is facing a deep divide between industry and environmentalists on whether the agency should assess risks of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals even though all sides agree that the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) does not require the agency to do so because it seeks quick regulation of the substances. In recent remarks and in comments filed on EPA’s proposed rules, industry groups and their lawyers raise concerns that the proposed rule targets chemicals that are still...

CSB At Risk Of Losing Quorum As Nominee Stalls Amid Partisan Squabble

Senators are warning that the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) risks losing its quorum when one of its two current member’s terms expires next week and are calling for the Senate to quickly vote on a pending Trump administration nominee, though the vote appears to have stalled amid partisan wrangling. During a Jan. 29 Senate environment committee hearing on CSB, an independent agency that investigates industrial accidents and recommends changes to prevent future incidents, both committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) and...

EPA Weighs ‘Legacy Uses’ In TSCA Analyses As Appeal Options Narrow

EPA has declined to seek en banc rehearing of the recent appellate ruling that requires the agency to consider chemicals’ “legacy uses” in its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) evaluations, and a spokesman says the agency is now considering issuing supplemental analyses for some already issued evaluations to account for the court’s requirement. “EPA is reviewing the court’s decision and considering its options. These could include a supplemental risk evaluation for those chemicals that have legacy uses or associated...

As EPA Floats Lists, Industry Fears Millions In New Fees For TSCA Analyses

EPA has released preliminary lists of thousands of companies that may have to cover the costs of assessing the next 20 chemicals the agency will begin evaluating this year under the revised toxics law, leaving companies wondering how much of the up to $1.35 million per chemical they will be charged when the list is finalized. For example, Larry Culleen, a partner with the law firm Arnold & Porter, warned in a Jan. 21 advisory that even importers of products...

First Suit Over California Green Chemistry Program Listing Survives Challenge

A California superior court judge is allowing key industry claims to advance in the first industry challenge to the state’s listing of a chemical under its landmark Safer Consumer Products (SCP) green chemistry program, rejecting arguments in a state demurrer and indicating she may ultimately rule in favor of the petitioners on the merits of the case. “[I]t appears that petitioners have adequately alleged ultimate facts showing that respondents exceeded their authority when they decided to list [spray polyurethane foam...

EPA Finds Few Unreasonable Risks In Draft Analysis Of Carbon Tetrachloride

EPA has found that the once-common solvent carbon tetrachloride does not pose unreasonable risk to directly exposed workers or the environment, though other workers may face risk, says a just-released draft assessment the agency conducted under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The finding will likely renew debate over whether the agency is adequately assessing risks of already regulated uses, especially for directly exposed workers given that the agency assumes they use personal protective equipment (PPE). “EPA evaluated workers’...

Adopting New Mandate, EPA Lists 160 PFAS For Toxics Release Reporting

EPA has quietly added 160 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to its list of chemicals requiring reporting under the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), following through on new defense law provisions that mandate the additions. In a Jan. 16 update on its website, EPA lists 160 PFAS subject to TRI reporting as of Jan. 1, 2020, noting that the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) specifically named 14 of these for addition to the list, while all of the...

EPA’s EtO Risk Approach In MON Proposal Sparks Competing Criticisms

Industry and environmental groups clashed at a Jan. 16 public hearing over EPA’s use of its conservative cancer risk value for ethylene oxide (EtO) and related modifications in its proposal to update its air toxics rule on miscellaneous organic chemical manufacturing (MON) facilities. Chemical industry representatives reiterated their longstanding arguments that EPA’s use of its 2016 Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of EtO overstates the ubiquitous chemical’s cancer risk, by inappropriately using epidemiology studies of workers and choosing an...

CSB’s Accidental Chemical Release Proposal Draws Competing Criticisms

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board’s (CSB) proposed accidental chemical release rule is drawing competing criticisms, with environmentalists and other advocacy groups saying it weakens reporting mandates to the point of being “useless” while industry entities claim it risks subjecting companies to “inappropriate enforcement.” Various groups outlined the attacks in written comments filed ahead of CSB’s Jan. 13 deadline for public input on its Dec. 12 proposed rule, with the board scrambling to finalize the measure by Feb...

EPA Urged To Weigh Chemicals’ Effects On Ozone Layer In TSCA Reviews

A group that has long sought to speed the phase-out of ozone-depleting chemicals is warning EPA that it must consider the ozone-depleting effects of methylene chloride and a dozen chemicals on the agency’s list for the next 20 to evaluate under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), because they pose risks to human health and the environment. In comments submitted last month , the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a British group, “urges EPA to examine ozone depletion as a risk...

EPA Faces Competing TSCA Attacks On Draft Methylene Chloride Analysis

Environmentalists and a chemical industry group are signaling possible future litigation over EPA’s evaluation of the human health and environmental risks of exposure to methylene chloride (MC), a common solvent, with groups arguing in recent comments that the agency’s draft evaluation does not meet Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) mandates. In comments filed late last month , a coalition of environmental groups charged that EPA’s decision to exclude environmental exposures to MC from its draft assessment violates TSCA’s requirements. That...

TSCA Plaintiffs Overcome Early Hurdles But Face Judge’s Skepticism

Plaintiffs challenging EPA’s denial of a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) citizen petition seeking to ban drinking water fluoridation may have overcome an initial EPA motion to end the case but the judge’s recent ruling allowing the landmark suit to proceed highlights the court’s skepticism on key issues to address in the future, attorneys say. For example, Erik Baptist, a former deputy assistant administrator in EPA’s toxics official who is now a lawyer at Wiley Rein, LLP, notes that the...

EPA Implements NDAA’s TRI Reporting Of PFAS But Lacks Key Methods

Even as it continues to seek comment on the issue, EPA has begun implementing new defense law provisions subjecting certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting though sources say the agency lacks mature methods for estimating air emissions and compiling release data in other media. One environmentalist says for the TRI reporting now in effect, the “steeper learning curve” for industry reporters will be on measuring air emissions of PFAS, as compared to measuring it...

Judge Again Rejects EPA's Motion To End Landmark TSCA Citizen Suit

A federal judge has again denied EPA’s effort to end a potentially precedent-setting suit challenging the agency’s denial of a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) citizen petition seeking to ban drinking water fluoridation, though the judge also rejected plaintiffs’ competing summary judgment motion that sought a quick ruling in their favor. Judge Edward Chen’s Dec. 30 order , likely means the case, Food and Water Watch et al v. EPA , will proceed to a de novo bench trial...

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