Senior House Democrat on board with Republican proposal to reform TSCA.

The passage of legislation to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) looks a little more likely as a senior House Democrat has voiced positive feedback on the proposal offered by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), the head of the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy.

According to Chemical Watch, Rep. Gene Green (D-TX), also a member of the Subcommittee, said that Rep. Shimkus’ more limited proposal to reform TSCA “works.” Rep. Green emphasized the need to “correct some of the things that are so outdated in TSCA,” as well as incorporating suggestions from Democrats. Rep. Green, whose district is home to several petrochemical companies, described TSCA reform as a “major issue,” and said he was “hopeful” that the issues that plagued the last attempt to modernize TSCA will not recur. As for state preemption, the main sticking point in last year’s negotiations, Rep. Green supported crafting legislation with bipartisan support as a first step before addressing preemption.

Chemical Watch also reported that Rep. Shimkus’ is currently “not committed to any timeline” for introducing legislation.

Canada begins phase-in of GHS with Hazardous Products Regulation.

Earlier this month, Canada published final regulations implementing the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. The Hazardous Products Regulation (HPR) aligns closely with the United States’ Hazard Communication Standard and the United Nations’ fifth revision of the GHS. The HPR harmonizes criteria for hazard classification, labels, and safety data sheets, but will not otherwise change the roles and responsibilities for suppliers, employers and workers. A goal of GHS is to allow chemical suppliers to use “a single label and SDS for each hazardous product.”

Adoption of the HPR marks the beginning of Canada’s three-phase transition to GHS, similar to the U.S. approach to implementing GHS. Canada’s transition is scheduled to be completed by December 1, 2018.

California may add BPA to Prop. 65 list.

On Friday, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announced that bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in common consumer products like food packaging and paper receipts, will be considered for possible listing under the state’s Proposition 65 program, which requires businesses to provide warnings for exposures to listed chemicals. The Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DARTIC), an advisory panel that helps OEHHA compile the list of chemicals known to cause reproductive toxicity, will meet on May 7, 2015 to “consider whether BPA has been clearly shown by scientifically valid testing according to generally accepted principles to cause female reproductive toxicity.”

In April 2013, BPA was added to the Prop. 65 list as a reproductive toxicant for development endpoints via the Prop. 65 “authoritative bodies” mechanism, based on the National Toxicology Project’s findings that BPA caused reproductive toxicity at high doses. However, California delisted BPA the next week, in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Chemistry Council, and simultaneously withdrew that attempt to list the chemical.

DARTIC will now be revisiting BPA per a 2009 request from the committee to reconsider the chemical “if additional epidemiological or other specific types of data on reproductive and developmental toxicity became available.” Substantial relevant data has become available since 2009, including a significant 2014 review of studies published from 2007-2013 concluding that BPA is a reproductive toxicant.

OEHHA has compiled hazard identification materials on BPA and female reproductive toxicity for the consideration of both DARTIC and the public. The agency is accepting comments on the hazard identification materials through April 6, 2015. These comments will be forwarded to DARTIC members before the May 7 meeting, and also posted online. Instructions for submitting comments are in the meeting notice.

The May 7 meeting will begin at 10:00am in the Coastal Hearing Room of the Cal/EPA Headquarters building, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, and will also be webcast. If DARTIC require more time for deliberations, the meeting will be continued on May 21 at the same location.

EPA’s chemicals outlook for 2015.

Jim Jones, the EPA Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, writes in Chemical Watch that his highest priority in 2015 is “to continue building on the progress” of the last few years in making a “credible” program to manage existing chemicals, “despite the widely acknowledged shortcomings of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).” In his outlook for 2015, Assistant Administrator Jones highlighted progress on the TSCA Work Plan for Chemical Assessments as well as various regulatory actions.

Assistant Administrator Jones noted that in 2014, EPA completed final assessments on four chemical substances. Of those, the assessments for trichloroethylene (TCE) and methylene chloride (DCM) identified health risks to consumers and workers working with the chemicals. In 2015, the agency intends to negotiate for voluntary risk reduction measures with TCE and DCM manufacturers, but would turn to TSCA § 6 to mandate risk management – a regulatory tool EPA has not used in 28 years. Under the TSCA Work Plan, assessments scheduled for 2015 will address the following:

  • N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP) in paint stripper products;
  • three clusters of related chemicals, used as flame retardants;
  • several uses of 1-Bromopropane (1-BP); including occupational uses of 1-BP in dry-cleaning and foam gluing operations, consumer uses in aerosol solvent cleaners and spray adhesives;
  • 1,4-Dioxane; and
  • long- and medium-chained chlorinated paraffins used as metal working and compounding agents and its effects on ecological receptors.

EPA has a variety of regulatory actions planned for 2015. The agency plans to finalize a rule regulating formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products, thus making national the emissions standard already in place in California. In addition, EPA will make a determination on “whether renovations in commercial and public buildings create a hazard from lead-based paint.” Assistant Administrator Jones also announced that the agency will, in late 2015 or early 2016, propose the modification of existing use authorizations for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in several contexts. Finally, Assistant Administrator jones noted that 2015 would mark a “turning point” for the agency’s green chemistry programs as incentives and obstacles to adoption of greener chemistries are identified.

Other items on EPA’s agenda for 2015 include:

EPA promulgates Significant New Use Rules for 27 PMN substances.

In yesterday’s Federal Register, the EPA published Significant New Use Rules (SNUR) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 27 substances that were already the subject of Premanufacture Notices (PMNs). Two of the substances – Phosphoric acid, iron (2+) lithium salt (1:1:1) and Polymer of terephthalic acid and ethyl benzene with multi-walled carbon nanotube (generic) – are also subject to “risk-based” consent orders under TSCA section 5(e), requiring protective measures to limit exposures or otherwise mitigate the potential unreasonable risk to human health and the environment presented by the substances. For these substances, the SNURs designate the absence of those protective measures as a “significant new use.”

Under all of the SNURs, EPA must be notified at least 90 days before beginning to manufacture or process the specified chemicals in a “significant new use.” For the chemicals not subject to § 5(e) consent orders, any use deviating from the use scenario reported in the corresponding PMN is designated as a “significant new use.” Specific requirements for each chemical are specified in the regulatory text.

The SNUR was promulgated by Direct Final Rule, and will go into effect on April 3, 2015, unless adverse comments are submitted by March 4.