Sara Beth Watson

On September 27, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule extending the submission deadline for the 2024 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) from September 30 to November 22, 2024 (89 Fed. Reg. 79150). EPA’s Chemical Data Exchange (CDX) reporting tool incorrectly indicated in some circumstances that Confidential Business Information was captured in a submission when it was not. EPA extended the deadline to allow submitters to review their submissions and update as appropriate.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently found, in what it described as a “question of first impression,” that Section 5(b)(3) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a provision requiring public disclosure of information on the receipt of new TSCA Section 5 filings and health and safety data, was a “freestanding right to information” obligation and independent of a TSCA regulatory function. This court, in its August 20 opinion, reiterated the position that public right-to-know about chemicals in commerce is a central function of TSCA.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued two opinions at the end of its term impacting environmental law. In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Court held that courts must exercise independent judgment when determining if an agency acted within its statutory authority, overruling the 1984 decision in Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which directed courts to defer to an agency’s interpretation of ambiguous statutory language, so long as the agency’s interpretation was “permissible.”

Only six months after proposing to amend the procedures for risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the final rule was published in the Federal Register on May 3, 2024. A flurry of activity will soon follow on many reviews that were put on hold while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) made fundamental shifts in direction on how these evaluations will be conducted in the years to come.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued its final rule that significantly raises user fees under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). As shown below, there are large fee increases in key areas such as new chemical submissions and existing chemical reviews. These fees go into effect on April 22, 2024.

As the second Trump Administration begins, significant shifts in the federal government’s approach to chemical regulation appear imminent. The main forces of change include the ongoing legal challenges to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 6 rules and Section 21 petitions, the Administration’s domestic priorities, and expected measures in key states.

On May 3, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule on procedures for chemical risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was published in the Federal Register. In the words of EPA’s Assistant Administrator, this rule “was a big step for TSCA.”