For Manufacturers, Key Chemical Regulation Milestone Coming In December

Chemical regulation will get a major overhaul in the next few years, as the result of the recent passage of amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), with the first important milestone coming up in December. Faegre Baker Daniels attorney Max Kelln, writing in the online publication of the Indiana Manufacturers Association, says these amendments constitute “the first major environmental bill to be enacted in over 25 years.” In December, EPA will likely release its list of the first ten high priority substances marked for new risk assessment. That list will be selected from a larger list – 90 chemicals – that were drawn up by the EPA in October of 2014. Many of those chemicals, including benzene, lead and certain lead components, and methylene chloride are common in a variety of consumer products. The December listing will mark the beginning of a long process that will result in a modest speedup in the traditionally glacial pace of chemical testing, as well as, among other changes, the elimination of the so-called “least burdensome” standard for regulation and a removal of the presumption of confidential business information protection for chemicals after market entry. In addition to paying attention to the short list to be released in December, Kelln writes, companies would be well advised to look at the larger 2014 list and “review their manufacturing processes to determine whether any key substances are listed. If so, increased regulation of those substances could increase prices, reduce supply, limit use, or ban the substance altogether.”