In the wake of the 2016 amendment to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been focusing on streamlining new chemical review. On August 7, 2017, the Agency announced several related changes to the new chemical review process. Major reforms include: Where a Premanufacture Notice (PMN) raises risk concerns, EPA […]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the final rule establishing the process for TSCA “Inventory Reset” under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) on August 11, 2017. The final rule was effective as of the same day. The TSCA Inventory Reset process concerns chemical substances that are listed on the TSCA Inventory; it does not […]
EPA recently settled its case against Ricoh Electronics, Inc., for inaccurate reporting and recordkeeping of chemical substances imported by its facilities located in Tustin and Santa Ana, CA, and Lawrenceville, GA. Under the settlement, Ricoh Electronics will pay a fine of $245,990. These violations were found when the Agency inspected the company’s Chemical Data Reporting […]
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt assembled a task force to provide recommendations on how to restructure and improve the Superfund cleanup process. On July 25, 2017, the Task Force announced its recommendations. The Task Force Report to Administrator Pruitt identified 14 strategies and 42 specific recommendations to achieve the following five goals: Expediting […]
On August 18, 2017 EPA announced a Public Meeting on Methylene Chloride in Furniture Refinishing in collaboration with the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy. On September 12, 2017, EPA, in collaboration with the SBA Office of Advocacy, is holding a public workshop on the use of the paint remover, methylene chloride, in furniture […]
On August 18, 2017, EPA announced two upcoming meetings of the TSCA Chemical Data Reporting Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. These meetings will be held on September 13 – 14 and October 25 – 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. The public is invited to attend. EPA issued a Federal Register Notice of its intent to form the […]
On August 14, 2017, EPA released the Working Guidance for the Nanoscale Material Reporting Rule. The Working Guidance considerably narrowed the scope of “reportable chemical substance” from the draft Guidance. EPA considers the Guidance a “working” document because it intends to update the Guidance based on questions the Agency receives. The Working Guidance also discusses […]
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, and the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) have filed suit for review of EPA’s Risk Evaluation and Prioritization Rules promulgated under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Both rules were required by Section 6 of the amended statute. The final rules were released by […]
EPA recently notified many companies that CBI substantiation statements are due September 19, 2017. This was a surprise to those unfamiliar with the CBI substantiation requirements imposed by the Lautenberg amendments to TSCA and EPA’s Statement of Interpretation regarding these provisions. The Statement of Interpretation was issued in the Federal Register January, 19, 2017. The Lautenberg […]
On July 7, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision invalidating two key provisions of the 2015 amendments to the definition of solid waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). American Petroleum Institute v. EPA (D.C. Cir. No. 09-1038). The Court invalidated Factor 4 of the legitimacy […]
