By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On October 1, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of the Draft FY 2022-2026 EPA Strategic Plan. 86 Fed. Reg. 54448. The draft Strategic Plan communicates EPA’s priorities and provides the roadmap for achieving its mission to protect human health and the environment. The draft Strategic Plan outlines objectives within the following strategic goals:

• Goal 1: Tackle the Climate Crisis;
• Goal 2: Take Decisive Action to Advance Environmental Justice and Civil Rights;
• Goal 3: Enforce Environmental Laws and Ensure Compliance;
• Goal 4: Ensure Clean and Healthy Air for All Communities;
• Goal 5: Ensure Clean and Safe Water for All Communities;
• Goal 6: Safeguard and Revitalize Communities; and
• Goal 7: Ensure Safety of Chemicals for People and the Environment.

Goal 7 includes two objectives. Objective 7.1, “Ensure Chemical and Pesticide Safety,” is intended to protect the health of families, communities, and ecosystems from the risks posed by chemicals and pesticides. It includes the following long-term goals:

• By September 30, 2026, complete at least eight High Priority Substance (HPS) Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluations annually within statutory timelines compared with the fiscal year (FY) 2020 baseline of one;
• By September 30, 2026, review 90 percent of risk mitigation requirements for TSCA new chemical substances compared to the FY 2021 baseline of none;
• By September 30, 2026, renew 40 percent of expiring lead-based paint Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) firm certifications within 30 days compared to the FY 2021 baseline of 36 percent;
• By September 30, 2026, complete 78 pesticide registration review cases;
• By September 30, 2026, consider the effects determinations or protections of federally threatened and endangered species for new active ingredients in 90 percent of the risk assessments supporting pesticide registration decisions for new active ingredients compared to the FY 2020 baseline of 50 percent;
• By September 30, 2026, consider the effects determinations or protections of federally threatened and endangered species in 50 percent of the risk assessments supporting pesticide registration review decisions compared to the FY 2020 baseline of 25 percent; and
• By September 30, 2026, support Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) pesticide safety training for 20,000 farmworkers annually compared with the FY 2018-2020 annual average baseline of 11,000.

Objective 7.2, “Promote Pollution Prevention,” is intended to encourage the adoption of pollution prevention and other stewardship practices that conserve natural resources, mitigate climate change, and promote environmental sustainability. It includes the following long-term goals:

• By September 30, 2026, reduce a total of 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent released attributed to EPA pollution prevention grants; and
• By September 30, 2026, EPA’s Safer Choice program will certify a total of 2,300 products compared to the FY 2021 baseline of 1,950 total certified products.

According to the notice, EPA is seeking comment from individual citizens, states, tribes, local governments, industry, the academic community, non-governmental organizations (NGO), and all other interested parties. Comments are due November 12, 2021. EPA states that it “anticipates the final Strategic Plan will be submitted to Congress in February 2022.”

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) met with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) on August 5, 2021, to clarify concepts from the July 27, 2021, tiered data reporting (TDR) webinar. EPA’s meeting summary states that EDF representatives requested clarification on the following issues discussed during the webinar:

• Whether EPA intends to scale back the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) requirements with respect to the amount of information collected per chemical or to the number of chemicals reported.
  • EPA responded that the changes to CDR discussed in the webinar presentation would reduce the data collected per chemical and would not impact which chemicals were required to be reported under CDR.
• Whether the data expected to be used to inform the identification of potential candidate chemicals for prioritization was limited to CDR.
  • EPA responded that the webinar presentation was not intended to identify all sources of information that would be used for the various steps of the overall existing chemicals process, including informing the identification of the pool of potential candidate chemicals for the prioritization process. Rather, the intent was to identify the data that would be available from either CDR or TDR for use for each step in the process.
• Reasoning behind EPA’s decisions regarding timing of the collection tiers and selected data elements.
  • EPA responded that the specifics of what data elements would be included in which collection tiers was under development and that the Agency is interested in comments from EDF or other stakeholders to help inform the TDR proposal.
• Whether EPA had any more details about the post-risk management stage, which was included in the webinar presentation as “TBD.”
  • EPA responded that there were no additional details at this time.

According to the meeting summary, EDF provided additional comments during the meeting, including concern about scaling back CDR; belief that data should be collected earlier in the existing chemicals process to be more useful and enable EPA to make better use of TSCA Section 4; and a request to make the reported data publicly available in a timely manner to inform public comment. EDF “also reiterated their concern with the length of the comment period following the webinar.” The meeting summary states that EPA will accept supplemental comments after August 16, 2021, that are e-mailed to Susan Sharkey (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)), but that such comments should be provided as soon as possible. EPA noted that interested parties could comment during interagency review and following the publication of the proposal.

More information on EPA’s July 27, 2021, webinar is available in our July 29, 2021, memorandum. As reported in our August 6, 2021, blog item, EPA posted a memorandum in Docket ID EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0436 stating that it will not extend the August 16, 2021, comment period stemming from the July 27, 2021, public webinar.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
According to a memorandum posted in Docket ID EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0436, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not extend the comment period stemming from the July 27, 2021, public webinar on the development of a proposed rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to implement a tiered data collection strategy intended to inform EPA’s prioritization, risk evaluation, and risk management activities for chemical substances or mixtures. As reported in our July 29, 2021, memorandum, EPA is exploring a data reporting rule that is tiered to specific stages of the TSCA existing chemicals program: identifying a pool of substances as potential candidates for prioritization; selecting candidate chemicals for and completing the prioritization process; and assessing high-priority substances through a robust risk evaluation that may be followed by risk management actions (depending on the outcome of the risk evaluation). According to the memorandum posted in the docket, the August 16, 2021, deadline is for EPA’s use in the current stage of its rulemaking development. While EPA will consider later comments as it continues to develop the proposed rule, EPA states that “comments submitted at this point will be especially useful to EPA and stand a greater chance of influencing the rulemaking.” Because there will be other opportunities to comment on the tiered data reporting rule, including during the public comment period following publication of the proposed rule, EPA “do[es] not believe that an extension of the comment period is necessary.”

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On July 27, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) will hold a public meeting to engage with interested stakeholders on the development of a proposed rule for implementing a tiered data collection strategy to help inform EPA’s prioritization, risk evaluation, and risk management activities for chemical substances or mixtures under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to EPA, it currently primarily collects exposure-related data through the TSCA Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) process. EPA is interested in ensuring that data collection strategies provide information to meet better its basic chemical data needs, such as information related to exposure, health, and ecotoxicity. To this end, EPA states that it is exploring a data reporting rule that is tiered to specific stages of the TSCA existing chemicals program: identifying a pool of substances as potential candidates for prioritization; selecting candidate chemicals for and completing the prioritization process; and assessing high-priority substances through a robust risk evaluation, which may be followed by risk management actions (depending on the outcome of the risk evaluation). According to EPA, feedback from the public meeting and comments received will help inform its development of a proposed rule. The meeting will be held virtually via WebEx on July 27, 2021, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. (EDT). Those who would like to make a comment during the meeting must register by 6:00 p.m. EDT on July 22, 2021. Those who would like to participate in listen-only mode must register by 6:00 p.m. EDT on July 26, 2021. Written comments are due August 15, 2021.

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Wednesday, June 30, 2021
9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (EDT)
Register Now

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C^®), the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health are pleased to present “TSCA Reform - Five Years Later.” This complimentary virtual conference marks the fifth Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Annual Conference, reflecting on the accomplishments and challenges since the implementation of the 2016 Lautenberg Amendments and where TSCA stands today. Speakers will dive into a host of topics, including the systems of risk evaluation and risk management, environmental justice, regulating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), new chemicals, and more. Register online.

Full Agenda:

 
Join ELI, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C., the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, leading experts, and distinguished keynote speakers for a robust exploration of the issues and regulations surrounding TSCA. Full program and registration available online.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has prepared a strategic plan for the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) for fiscal years (FY) 2021-2023. The strategic plan outlines how OPPT intends to fulfill its obligations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA), and related EPA policies and procedures “in ways that value science, protect people and the environment, and increase transparency for stakeholders and the general public.” The strategic plan includes new vision, mission, and values statements for OPPT. Priority areas include:

• New Chemicals: The New Chemicals Program manages potential risks to human health and the environment from chemicals new to the marketplace. The program identifies conditions to be placed on the use of new chemicals before they enter into commerce;
• Existing Chemicals: TSCA requires EPA to evaluate the safety of existing chemicals through prioritization, risk evaluation, and risk management. Ensuring the safety of existing chemicals requires collecting and analyzing information about the chemicals, developing additional information, conducting analyses to evaluate risk, and taking regulatory action on proper conditions of use for each chemical;
• Pollution Prevention/Safer Choice/Toxics Release Inventory (TRI): OPPT supports a suite of programs that are intended to reduce, eliminate, or prevent pollution at its source as an alternative to pollution control and waste disposal. Safer Choice helps consumers, businesses, and purchasers find products that contain ingredients that are safer for human health and the environment. The TRI Program collects information to track industry progress in reducing waste generation and moving toward safer waste management alternatives;
• Transparency and Stakeholder Engagement: OPPT is committed to providing the public with the information needed to understand EPA’s chemical evaluations. It continually seeks more productive means of engaging with interested stakeholders through public comment during rulemaking, Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) workgroups, and other means;
• Human Capital: OPPT strives to provide a healthy and supportive working environment, support for career development, and communication on issues that are important to its colleagues. It closely collaborates with its partners in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention’s (OCSPP) Office of Program Support to ensure that the basics of being an OPPT employee, such as timekeeping, personnel actions, and equipment, are easy to manage; and
• Efficiency and Enabling Tools: OPPT’s priority areas depend on a wide range of data from manufacturers, researchers, and the public. Its employees need to know how to work with these data and to have access to tools that facilitate access to and analysis of these data. OPPT is committed to increasing its ability to manage projects effectively through a unified approach that ensures timely deliverables, increases its ability to track its work, and simplifies its processes.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice on April 28, 2021, announcing a 30-day comment period on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Interagency Testing Committee’s (ITC) revisions to the Priority Testing List.  86 Fed. Reg. 22414.  In the 74th ITC Report, ITC revised the TSCA Section 4(e) Priority Testing List by adding the following 15 high-priority substances designated pursuant to TSCA Section 6(b) and 24 organohalogen flame retardants:

ITC requests that EPA add these chemical substances and the other five high-priority substances and six organohalogen flame retardants currently on the Priority Testing List to 40 C.F.R. Section 716.120(a), the list of substances subject to the TSCA Section 8(d) Health and Safety Data Reporting rule (40 C.F.R. Part 716).  The rule requires manufacturers (including importers) of chemical substances and mixtures added to the Health and Safety Data Reporting rule to submit lists and copies of unpublished health and safety studies to EPA.  Comments are due May 28, 2021.
 
EPA notes that in addition to the chemical substances being added to the Priority Testing List in the 74th ITC Report, the Priority Testing List includes two alkylphenols, 45 High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Program orphan chemicals, cadmium, a category of cadmium compounds, six non-phthalate plasticizers, 25 phosphate ester flame retardants, two other flame retardants, nine chemicals to which children living near hazardous waste sites may be exposed, and 19 diisocyanates and related compounds.

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On March 31, 2021, the Product Stewardship Society (PSS) presented “Product Stewardship and the Pandemic: Surviving and Thriving in Disruptive Times.” Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C^®), and PSS President, moderated a lively and informative discussion identifying the broad range of complex, unresolved, and evolving issues product stewards have faced and continue to face because of the pandemic.
 
Presenters included:

• Al Iannuzzi, Ph.D., Vice President, Sustainability, The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.;
• Louise Proud, Vice President, Global Environment, Health & Safety, Pfizer;
• Tina Armstrong, Ph.D., Principal Scientist and Vice President, Arcadis; and
• Jon Hellerstein, CIH, CSP, of Global Product Stewardship Solutions.

A recording of the webinar is now available for PSS members and non-members alike to watch on demand via PSS's e-learning portal. The portal also contains a wealth of resources and tools to equip product stewards and enhance the many roles they play in creating successful, sustainable products and solutions.

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By Christopher R. Blunck
 
On November 25, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released updates to the interim final list of manufacturers and importers subject to fees for the next 20 chemicals undergoing risk evaluation under Section 6(b) of the Toxic Substances Control Act.  According to EPA, “[t]he updated list includes additional manufacturers not identified on the final list of companies and removes manufacturers that self-identified in error or imported the chemical solely for the purpose of research and development.”  EPA stated it is committed to ensuring this list is accurate and that it planned to use this updated list to begin invoicing for fees in early November.  EPA also stated that due to the public health emergency, EPA is exploring options for payment flexibilities.
 
On September 4, 2020, EPA published a Federal Register notice announcing the final lists identifying the manufacturers (including importers) of the 20 chemical substances that have been designated as high-priority substances for risk evaluation and for which fees will be charged.  85 Fed. Reg. 55283.
 
More information is available in our September 4, 2020, memorandum, “EPA Publishes Final Scope Documents and List of Manufacturers Subject to Fees for Risk Evaluations of High-Priority Chemicals.”

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