ISSUE: Inside TSCA

Academics Seek ‘Extensive Revisions’ To Draft TSCA DCHP Evaluation

A group of academic scientists is blasting EPA’s draft TSCA evaluation of dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP), a plasticizer chemical, arguing that the draft evaluation makes unscientific assumptions that underestimate the chemical’s risks to human health and, as such, requires extensive revision. “In the DCHP Draft Risk Evaluation, EPA has failed to incorporate the best available science and makes a number of scientifically-unsupported assumptions,” state May 9 comments from a score of scientists associated with the Program on Reproductive Health and the...

Judge Consolidates FOIA Cases Over Inhance’s Fluorination Process

A federal district court judge has granted environmentalists’ request to consolidate their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit seeking data about Inhance Technologies’ plastic fluorination process with a similar suit the company filed seeking to prevent EPA from releasing what it contends is confidential information under TSCA. Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia agreed to consolidate Inhance Technologies LLC v. Zeldin with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) et al....

Trump EPA Staffing Plan May Not Address TSCA Chemical Review Backlog

The Trump EPA’s plan to shift some 130 scientists from EPA’s research office to its chemicals office may not be sufficient to address the longstanding backlog of TSCA new chemicals reviews, an industry law and policy firm says, suggesting the agency or Congress still needs to revisit key statutory interpretations of the toxics law to address the issue. “Allocation of staff with the right expertise -- toxicologists, chemists, industrial hygienists -- is an attempt to help with the review of...

EPA Denies ‘Deficient’ TSCA Petition To Ban Hydrogen Fluoride At Refineries

EPA is denying environmentalists’ TSCA petition asking the agency to ban the use of hydrogen fluoride (HF) in refineries, with acting chemicals chief Nancy Beck calling the petition “deficient” and its arguments inconsistent with EPA’s longstanding policy that it cannot evaluate, and thus regulate, accidental chemical releases of disasters under the reformed TSCA. “The petition’s request to initiate a proceeding for the issuance of a rule under TSCA section 6(a) is deficient. While the petition can point to historical incidents...

State Actions On Chemicals May Surge Under Trump Deregulatory Push

Despite a push by some industry sectors for EPA to use TSCA to preempt state action on PFAS and other chemicals, legal and other experts say the Trump administration’s deregulatory focus is likely to drive increased state action, noting industry does not have a unified voice on the issue. “This is almost inevitable with a federal deregulatory effort, the pendulum swings to states. Many states are already examining options,” Karyn Schmidt, principal at Squire Patton Boggs, said during a recent...

Companies Petition EPA To Reduce Worker Exposure Standard In TCE Rule

Battery and chemical manufacturers are petitioning EPA to reduce the Biden-era workplace safety standards set in the agency’s 2024 TSCA risk management rule on the common solvent trichloroethylene (TCE), as well as further extending a 20-year phaseout period for one company’s use of TCE. The petitions’ submission comes on the heels of EPA’s March 21 announcement that it was partially extending by 90 days the complete regulatory freeze placed on implementing the TCE rule as part of the transition process...

Tariffs May Stymie Safer Alternatives, Undercutting EPA’s TSCA Reviews

President Donald Trump’s tariff policies are raising concerns in the chemical industry about the cost and availability of safer chemical alternatives, key issues that EPA is required to consider in its TSCA risk management efforts though industry officials argue the agency has not adequately considered such issues so far. “One of the things that's really interesting in the evolution of TSCA . . . and chemicals management writ large, is that there is really understanding alternatives to chemicals, where those...

Future Of Novel New ORD Chemical Tool In Doubt Amid BOSC Uncertainty

The future of a promising new assessment product from EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) -- whose acting chief predicted it “could nearly triple” the number of chemicals for which EPA has risk values -- is in doubt, its peer review stalled by uncertainty over the future of an advisory committee that may never meet again. A subpanel of EPA’s Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) met Jan. 16-17 , just days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, to begin their...

EPA Drops Defense Of Key Issues In Methylene Chloride Rule Challenge

The Trump EPA has informed the 5th Circuit that it is dropping its defense of two key issues in a consolidated challenge to the agency’s TSCA risk management rule for methylene chloride, noting the issues are the subject of the agency’s “framework” rule that is being revised. “EPA is currently reconsidering two statutory issues implicated in this litigation as part of new rulemaking” and thus, the agency “hereby withdraws those portions of its brief and EPA will not defend its...

EPA Seeks To Extend PCE Litigation Stay Amid Rule Revision Plans

EPA is asking the 5th Circuit to keep on hold consolidated litigation challenging the Biden-era TSCA rule restricting perchloroethylene (PCE or perc) while the Trump administration develops a revised version of the rule that reconsiders an exposure limit used to inform risk management needs. During the abeyance, the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) “intends to reconsider the PCE Rule through notice-and-comment rulemaking, including but not limited to the use of the Existing Chemical Exposure Limit (ECEL) of...

EPA Delay Of TSCA Reporting Rule Opens Door For Reconsideration

EPA’s decision to delay the reporting period for companies to submit information under TSCA about their PFAS uses gives the agency more time to consider possible changes to the contested Biden-era rule after an industry coalition argued the rule fails to align with the best reading of the toxics law and urged the agency to withdraw and repropose it. The driver for the delay in the start of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reporting rule on uses of per-...

Chemical Sector Argues Biden-Era PFAS Reporting Rule Contrary To TSCA

A coalition of chemical companies is arguing a Biden-era TSCA reporting rule for PFAS fails to align with the best reading of the toxics law and is urging the Trump administration in a formal petition to withdraw the rule and repropose it in a significantly narrower form. The May 2 petition , from a coalition of anonymous companies, comes just days after Administrator Lee Zeldin signaled the agency would seek to scale back the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reporting...

EPA’s Path In East Fork Suit Could Affect Its TSCA Framework Rule Rewrite

EPA’s still uncertain approach to pending litigation over the Biden-era TSCA rule on methylene chloride is likely to affect its plans to quickly craft a new version of a “framework” rule implementing TSCA risk evaluation procedures while litigation on the framework rule is on hold. The two cases -- the framework rule consolidated before the D.C. Circuit and the methylene chloride rule consolidated before the 5th Circuit -- are intertwined as they raise overlapping questions about interpretations of the Toxic...

9th Circuit Extends Deadline For EPA’s Opening Brief In Fluoride Appeal

The 9th Circuit has granted EPA’s request to extend by 30 days the deadline for the agency’s opening brief in a Biden-era appeal of a federal judge’s novel decision ordering EPA to regulate drinking water fluoridation under TSCA, giving officials more time as they grapple with whether to appeal the landmark ruling. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in a May 7 text only order says EPA’s April 29 motion “for an extension of time to file...

Industry Worries TSCA Reform Push May Not Address Existing Chemicals

Congress’ early focus on revising TSCA’s approach to pre-market reviews of new chemicals as a key component of potential changes to the 2016 law is prompting some industry sources to worry that a narrow window for addressing other issues in the statute could close without touching its current language on existing chemicals, a key priority. “On the House’s side they haven’t really gotten very far; they have a lot of other priorities. TSCA is on the backburner,” an industry source...

Court Ruling Clears Path For Trump EPA TSCA Framework Rule Rewrite

The D.C. Circuit’s decision last week to pause consolidated litigation over the Biden-era rule laying out procedures for evaluating existing chemicals under TSCA clears the path for the Trump EPA to move forward with its plan to propose a new version of the framework rule next month and finalize it in 2026. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit April 30 ordered United Steelworkers et al. v. EPA “be held in abeyance pending further order...

California Senate Committee Advances Katie Butler’s DTSC Appointment

The California Senate Rules Committee has unanimously advanced acting state toxics department chief Katie Butler’s appointment to officially head the agency that oversees the state’s green chemistry program as well as hazardous waste management and contaminated site cleanups. The committee voted April 30 following Butler’s confirmation hearing, and the full Senate is expected soon to give its approval to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) appointment of Butler to be director of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). During her confirmation...

EPA Chemicals Chief Details OCSPP Reorganization To Speed TSCA Reviews

The Trump EPA plans to expand its chemicals office “by at least 130 people,” the office’s top political appointee told staff during a May 2 all-hands meeting, where they are expected to work on speeding TSCA and other reviews, though the additional personnel are being moved from EPA’s gutted research office, a move that is drawing criticism. Nancy Beck, the principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), told staff the administration’s plans for...

DTSC Proposes 12 Acids & Bases For Green Chemistry Program Review

California’s toxics department is proposing to add 12 acids and bases used in personal care and cleaning products to its “candidate chemicals” list for potential regulation under its Safer Consumer Products (SCP) green chemistry program, drawing early interest from industry representatives. In an April 23 email notice, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) announces it has scheduled a May 15 “virtual workshop” on its proposal to add the following acids and bases to the candidate chemical list: potassium hydroxide,...

Judge Orders Permanent Injunction On Prop. 65 Acrylamide Warnings

A federal district court judge has ordered a permanent injunction on California’s Proposition 65 cancer warnings for the food chemical acrylamide, siding with the California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber) in its long-running free speech suit by finding the warnings are unconstitutional. The ruling is another victory for industry and business groups that have challenged Prop. 65 warnings for other chemicals claiming First Amendment violations, including glyphosate and titanium dioxide . “The Court finds that the Prop 65 warnings for dietary...

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