Chemical “Confidentiality” Will Be Tough Sell Under New TSCA

A routine strategy for keeping information about a product’s chemical and biological constituents out of the public eye could be a lot less effective under the recently enacted TSCA amendments. Martha Marrapese, a Keller and Heckman attorney who focuses on emerging technologies, told Bloomberg BNA that the EPA will be requiring companies to justify all confidential business information claims, including those made with regard to pre-manufacture notices, or PMNs, as well as notices of commencement, which are filed when manufacturers have started to make or import a new chemical that has already been reviewed. The confidentiality justification will have to be laid out in detail, and in accordance with a strict time line.