First Annual TSCA Report on Chemical Risk Evaluation Posted

chemicals

by | Feb 10, 2017

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chemicalsManufacturers take note: on Feb. 14 the EPA will hold a public meeting about the initial 10 chemicals it will evaluate for environment, health and safety risks under the amended the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

The 10 chemicals are:

  • 1,4-Dioxane
  • 1-Bromopropane
  • Asbestos
  • Carbon Tetrachloride
  • Cyclic Aliphatic Bromide Cluster
  • Methylene Chloride
  • N-methylpyrrolidone
  • Pigment Violet 29
  • Tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene
  • Trichloroethylene

At this meeting the agency will present information on the 10 chemicals’ specific uses and “conditions of use” — or the circumstances under which a chemical substance is intended, known, or reasonably foreseen to be manufactured, processed, distributed in commerce, used, or disposed of. The EPA will also take comments about the uses and conditions of use.

The agency outlines this action and the others it has taken under the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemicals Safety for the 21 Century Act, which amended the TSCA, in its first annual report on risk evaluations.

The updated TSCA requires that EPA identify the chemical substances that will undergo risk evaluation during that year, those for which risk evaluation will be initiated and those for which risk evaluation will be completed, including status and schedules.

In other words, it’s a good resource for chemical companies, manufacturers and other corporations that use chemicals in their products and processes and, as such, will have to comply with the chemical risk regulations.

Over the summer, the EPA posted an Implementation Plan that outlines the agency’s first-year plans to implement the new chemical safety rules. It also gives chemical companies and others a better idea of what, and when, they can expect in terms of EPA rulemaking and enforcement activities.

In other TSCA news, the EPA has extended the comment period for two proposed rules on Trichloroethylene (TCE), a toxic chemical with human health concerns identified by EPA in a 2014 risk assessment. The EPA proposed these rules in December and January to ban certain uses of the chemical in aerosol degreasing, as a spot cleaner in dry cleaning facilities, and in commercial vapor degreasing.

The comment period for the proposed ban on TCE as an aerosol degreaser and for spot cleaning in dry cleaning facilities is extended to March 16.

The comment period for the proposed ban on TCE as a commercial vapor degreaser is extended to April 19.

 

 

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