Life Cycle Thinking Blog

TSCA SNUR on carpets with perfluorochemicals issued.

EPA withdraws two draft proposed TSCA rules from OMB.

Spring 2013 EPA Regulatory Agenda predicts a lot of action coming up on SNURs and cbi.

EPA responds a little positively to hydraulic fracturing TSCA petition.

EPA has convinced itself it can’t use TSCA to do risk management, even though it has plenty of authority. It just needs to do its homework and do some rulemaking.

Flame retardants set for 2013 TSCA focus

New bills on TSCA reform are due in 2013 – Sen. Lautenberg reintroducing his Safe Chemicals Act and Sen. Vitter is expected to introduce a paired down version of TSCA revisions. Given the major pressures on Congress – fiscal mess, immigration, gun control, etc. and the Republican House – it’s not clear anything will pass this year, but there should be more to chew on. The problem is everyone wants some thing different in “modernization” of TSCA: make it easier for EPA to issue regulations, but not too easy and convince the public chemicals are safe – whatever that means.

EPA has published another batch of 37 Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) on chemicals that had been premanufacture noticed (PMN’d). Only 17 of them had consent orders. Isocyanates, siloxanes, nanocarbons predominate.

Make sure you are reviewing these for possible applicability – especially if the use is not “new” to you.

EPA declassified chemical identities in a few more health and safety studies and made some pretty graphs: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/transparency-charts.html

If I’m reading the numbers right, they have declassified about 20% of the 4,025 claims made. 3,242 claims were deemed actually legitimate. Another 11, 508 studies had made no claims in the first place. Only 532 of the chemicals were made over 25,000 lb per IUR reporting. Play whatever games you want with the numbers.