ISSUE: Inside TSCA

EPA Seeks New Stay Of CTC Litigation As It Prepares To Revise Rule

EPA is asking the 8th Circuit to place consolidated litigation over the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out uses of the solvent carbon tetrachloride (CTC or CCl4) back in abeyance while it develops a new rule that will consider changes to workplace exposure limits, noting that none of the challengers to the rule object. “Good cause exists for this abeyance request,” EPA says in a Sept. 12 motion to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. Abeyance now would...

EPA Extends Certain TCE Compliance Deadlines Days Ahead Of Bans

EPA is extending certain compliance deadlines in the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out many uses of trichloroethylene (TCE) that it says critical industry sectors will be unable to meet, just days before the first of those deadlines for wastewater discharges and nuclear fuel manufacturing were set to take effect. EPA released Sept. 12 a pre-publication copy of a Federal Register notice describing the interim final rule, which extends the compliance deadline for the 2024 TCE risk management rule’s ban...

EPA Prepares For Peer Review Of Manufacturer-Requested D4 Evaluation

EPA is seeking scientists to serve on a panel to peer review the draft TSCA evaluation of the siloxane known as D4, one of a handful of evaluations the agency agreed to complete in response to a manufacturer request, even as officials struggle to comply with a Biden-era consent decree that set steep deadlines for completing a series of other evaluations. EPA announced Sept. 10 that it “is seeking nominations of scientific and technical experts to be considered as ad...

TCE Deadline Extension Said To Address TSCA Rule’s Wastewater Releases

The White House is reviewing a new interim final rule to extend deadlines in the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out uses of trichloroethylene (TCE), with the extended deadlines expected to address the current rule’s prohibition on any releases of TCE to wastewater, a concern chemical manufacturers raised to the agency in a May petition. EPA sent the interim final rule titled “Trichloroethylene (TCE); Regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Compliance Date Extension” for pre-publication review by the White...

Zeldin Overruled Top Appointees To Reverse Asbestos Rule Redo Plan

The Trump EPA’s recent 180-degree reversal on its initial plan to rescind the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out six uses of chrysotile asbestos and instead issue new guidance on the 2024 rule, came after Administrator Lee Zeldin overruled two other senior Trump EPA appointees, a source with knowledge of the internal matter says. According to the source, after a series of emergency meetings in July, Zeldin reversed a decision by Lynn Dekleva, deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical...

Industry Groups Press Congress For Action On Consensus TSCA Priorities

As House Republicans prepare to unveil TSCA reform legislation, a broad alliance of industry trade groups is urging key members of Congress to further revise the law in line with new consensus priorities the groups have agreed to after appearing to resolve divisions that had split them earlier this year. The American Alliance for Innovation (AAI), representing scores of trade groups from the American Chemistry Council to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the Household & Commercial Products Association, National...

EPA Renews Call For Court To Continue Abeyance In PCE Rule Case

EPA is urging the 5th Circuit to grant its request for another 90-day abeyance in legal challenges over the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out many uses of the common solvent perchloroethylene (PCE or perc), arguing that environmentalists who oppose the request would not be harmed by a continued stay and their arguments are faulty. EPA asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit Aug. 21 to extend its abeyance of consolidated litigation over the Toxic Substances Control Act...

Trump EPA Offers Slimmer, Delayed Regulatory Agenda For TSCA Program

The Trump administration’s newly released “spring 2025” regulatory agenda shows a significantly slimmer agenda for EPA’s TSCA program than in the Biden EPA’s final months, with most items remaining on the agenda seeing extended deadlines for action and several rules moving from the active to the “long-term actions” section of the agenda. While the Trump EPA has repeatedly sought delays in multiple court challenges to Biden-era Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rules in order to rewrite them, only two of...

8th Circuit Prods Parties To Resume TSCA CTC Rule Suit After Pause Ends

The 8th Circuit is prodding the parties challenging the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out uses of the solvent carbon tetrachloride (CTC or CCl4) to resume the litigation after the court’s last abeyance order expired Sept. 2 without action from any party. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit issued a Sept. 4 clerk’s order in Olin Corp. et al. v. EPA , stating the “consolidated cases are hereby removed from abeyance. The parties shall submit an amended Joint...

ACC Urges EPA To Further Loosen PCE Workplace Standard In TSCA Rule

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is urging EPA to loosen worker exposure limits in the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out many uses of the common solvent perchloroethylene (PCE or perc) even more than the Trump administration has proposed, although other industry representatives have taken different stances on the rule. ACC’s Chlorine Panel “supports the reconsideration of the PCE rule but does not support the alternative exposure limits that the Agency identifies. . . . Although these alternative limits may alleviate...

Environmentalists File More CDR Violation Citizen Enforcement Suits

The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) has filed two new suits against companies it claims failed to report chemical imports to EPA as required by TSCA’s Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) program, following up on earlier “citizen enforcement suits” CEH has filed against other companies in recent years over what it calls EPA’s lax CDR implementation. In complaints filed Aug. 29 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, CEH claims that two firms -- Martin Resource Management Corp...

OMB Begins Review Of TSCA Proposal To Ease PFAS Reporting Mandates

EPA has sent for White House review a proposed TSCA rule that is expected to scale back Biden-era PFAS reporting requirements, following the agency’s announcement that it was “considering reopening certain aspects of the rule to public comment” after an industry coalition argued the measure fails to align with the best reading of the toxics law. EPA submitted the proposed rule, “Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Data Reporting and Recordkeeping under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Revision to Regulation”...

Inhance Calls Environmentalists’ Novel TSCA Fluorination Suit ‘Meritless’

A Texas-based plastics container manufacturer is joining EPA in urging the D.C. Circuit to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of environmentalists’ novel litigation seeking to force the agency to expedite regulation of PFAS in fluorinated plastic containers under TSCA, arguing the environmentalists’ arguments are “meritless.” “This litigation faces multiple justiciability problems, and the Court can affirm based on any of them,” Inhance Technologies says in its Aug. 29 brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia...

Company’s Niche Products Drive Unique Suit For TSCA CBI Protection

A Georgia chemical company’s pending lawsuit over EPA’s denial of TSCA confidential business information (CBI) protection for its products appears to be the first time a company has challenged such a determination, likely driven by the unique situation of the company’s niche products being unavailable elsewhere, one legal expert says. “It's a very interesting case, and I'm very looking forward to the disposition by the court,” Herbert Estreicher, partner with Keller & Heckman, said during the firm’s Aug. 13 TSCA...

EDF Urges EPA To Maintain Biden-Era PCE Workplace Exposure Standard

Environmentalists are calling on the Trump administration to maintain the stringent standard for permissible workplace exposures to the solvent perchloroethylene (PCE or perc) set in the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out many of its uses, arguing that the alternatives offered by Trump officials do not meet the statute’s unreasonable risk standard. “We strongly discourage the agency from reconsidering and weakening the final TSCA section 6 rule on PCE. EPA determined that PCE poses an unreasonable risk to human health and...

In Surprise, House Poised To Unveil Draft TSCA Reform Bill Ahead Of Senate

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are poised to release a draft TSCA reform bill soon after lawmakers return from their summer recess next week, sources say, a surprise given that many observers expected the Senate to go first on advancing any legislation. “The House was putting pen to paper this month with hopes of having some draft when Congress returns,” an industry source tells Inside TSCA . “Last I heard, they are ahead of the Senate.” Such...

Environmentalists Oppose Another EPA-Requested Delay In PCE Rule Suit

Environmentalists are opposing EPA’s request for the 5th Circuit to delay for another 90 days the legal challenges over the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out many uses of the common solvent perchloroethylene (PCE or perc), reminding the court that it had previously set an Aug. 21 deadline for EPA to resolve the issue or proceed with the suit. The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) filed an Aug. 27 motion urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to...

Emerging Case Law Suggests Possible Jury Trials Over TSCA Penalties

Emerging case law suggests that companies facing TSCA enforcement actions may soon seek jury trials to challenge any civil penalties they face given emerging case law in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that opened the door to such trials, one legal expert says. The issue has yet to be tested in a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) suit, but lower courts are beginning to apply the findings of Jarkesy v. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) , which...

EPA Urges D.C. Circuit To Uphold Dismissal Of TSCA Fluorination Suit

EPA is urging the D.C. Circuit to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of environmentalists’ litigation seeking to force the agency to expedite regulation of PFAS in fluorinated plastic containers under TSCA, arguing the text of the toxics law supports the lower court’s ruling and that environmentalists lack standing. “The plain language of TSCA shows that the district court’s rulings were correct, and Plaintiffs’ arguments on appeal amount to little more than a plea to ignore TSCA’s text in pursuit of...

EPA Requests Another Delay In PCE Rule Suit Though ‘Prepared To Proceed’

EPA is asking the 5th Circuit to grant another 90-day abeyance in legal challenges over the Biden-era TSCA rule phasing out many uses of the common solvent perchloroethylene (PCE or perc) but says it is “prepared to proceed” if the court denies its request, after the court in May directed EPA to resolve the suits or be ready to go forward by Aug. 21. “EPA is currently reconsidering the challenged rule and recently published a notice in the Federal Register...

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