On June 27, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the final “Reporting Requirements for the TSCA Mercury Inventory” Rule. As required under section 8(b)(10)(D) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA finalized reporting requirements for regulated entities to provide information to assist in the preparation of an “inventory of mercury supply, use, and […]
Sherwin-Williams is phasing out the use of paint-removal products containing methylene chloride by the end of this year. Both Lowe’s and Home Depot have also announced they will phase out paint removal products that contain methylene chloride. These actions are likely a response to EPA’s forthcoming rulemaking on the substance. In January, 2017, EPA proposed […]
EPA recently has published a plethora of proposed rules and notices governing or closely related to development of national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). These include (in order by comment deadline): Consideration of costs and benefits. On June 13 (83 FR 27524), EPA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) soliciting comment on whether […]
On May 30, 2018, in response to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s July 2017 and March 2018 orders, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule revising the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA relied upon Section 553 of the […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved final consent orders against four paint companies — Benjamin Moore & Co., Inc., ICP Construction Inc., YOLO Colorhouse, LLC, and Imperial Paints, LLC — that allegedly misled consumers by claiming their products were free of emissions and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To clarify to industry that these orders represent […]
On May 9, EPA Administrator Pruitt released a memorandum to Assistant Administrators titled “Back to Basics Process for Reviewing National Ambient Air Quality Standards” (NAAQS). Key provisions include: 1. Meeting statutory deadlines. The Administrator has ordered completion of the pending review of the ozone NAAQS by October 2020 and of the pending PM NAAQS review […]
EPA has substantively updated the General Labeling Requirements, Precautionary Statements, and Net Contents/Net Weight Chapters of the Pesticide Label Review Manual, and made minor editorial changes throughout the rest of the manual. This manual is designed to help industry understand the pesticide labeling process and how labels should be drafted under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, […]
On April 24, 2018, EPA released for public comment a supplemental analysis on the definitions of small business size and their effect on Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) user fee collection. In the proposed fees rule EPA released in February, small businesses can quality for reduced fee amounts. For the supplemental analysis, EPA requested comment […]
Under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory Reset Rule, manufacturers and importers were required to report all chemical substances that were active in commerce in the ten year “look-back period” ending June 21, 2016. Based on the information it received, the EPA published a draft version of the TSCA Inventory […]
EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) has now completed its review of the agency’s draft Policy Assessment (PA) for the SO2 NAAQS, and supports the EPA staff recommendation that the current scientific literature does not support revision of the current primary (health based) SO2 NAAQS. In a draft letter recently released, CASAC notes that […]