EPA Finalizes New Active-Inactive TSCA Reporting Requirement

This week, US EPA is celebrating the one-year anniversary of President Obama signing into law the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21^st Century Act. This new law overhauls the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) chemical reporting rules that apply to chemical manufacturers, importers, and processors in the US.

With a new Final Rule finalized recently, EPA has now met the goals it laid out in its timeline for the first year of implementing the overhaul of TSCA.

New “Retrospective” TSCA Notification

Under the new Final Rule, EPA will require chemical manufacturers and importers to submit a “retrospective electronic notification” for all chemicals manufactured or imported over a ten-year period—from June 21, 2006 to June 21, 2016.

Proposed in January, the new rule aims to help EPA designate chemical substances as either “active” or “inactive,” as required by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21^st Century Act. If EPA receives a notification for a chemical under this new Final Rule, the chemical will be designated as “active” on the TSCA Inventory.

If EPA does not receive a notification, it will designate the chemical as “inactive” on the TSCA inventory.

New “Forward-looking” TSCA Notification

In addition, the new rule requires entities that plan to manufacture, import, or process an inactive chemical substances in the future to report their intentions to EPA ahead of time. This “forward-looking” notification must include the chemical identify and the date when manufacturing or processing will begin or resume. When EPA receives this notification, it will change the TSCA inventory designation from “inactive” to “active.”

TSCA Recordkeeping for New Notifications

Chemical manufacturers, importers, and processors who are required to submit either retrospective or forward-looking TSCA notifications under this new rule must retain records applicable to these notifications for 5 years.  

Lastly, the Final Rule includes procedures for reporting and for reporting when a reportable chemical is co-manufactured or co-processed, guidance for reporting confidential business information (CBI), and updates to TSCA definitions to conforming revisions to the TSCA definitions at 40 CFR 710.3.


A pre-publication version of the Final Rule is available here.

Other Lautenberg-related EPA Chemical Rulemakings 

In addition to the new “active-inactive” Final Rule, EPA has made great strides toward implementing the big changes to the TSCA inventory reporting process in the past 12 months.

Earlier this month, EPA sent its “Procedures for Prioritization of Chemicals for Risk Evaluation” to the Office of Management and Budget for review. These procedures will guide EPA as it determines which chemicals are “high priority” and which are “low priority” for regulations under TSCA as amended.

In December 2016, EPA announced the first 10 “high-priority” chemicals up for evaluation, based on a work plan created in 2012. EPA is moving forward on these evaluations and will begin a new evaluation each time it completes one. 

Interactive TSCA Training - Anytime, Anywhere 

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is complex, and enforcement is stringent, making a comprehensive understanding of the rules critical for compliance.  The law has broad applicability, subjecting all companies that “manufacture, use, process, distribute, import, or export chemical products” to complex reporting and management requirements.
 
Be confident you’re meeting your TSCA chemical management and reporting responsibilities! Sign up now for the interactive TSCA Regulations Online Course or call 888-546-6511 to speak with a Lion regulatory expert.
 

Tags: EPA, new rules, reporting and recordkeeping, TSCA