The EPA is expected to use its authority under TSCA to make chemical manufacturers provide more information about toxicity, exposure and other data about chemicals manufactured and imported into the U.S. market.  A wide range of industries ranging from airplane and auto manufacturers to the oil, gas and rubber industry, should prepare to turn over more information about chemical releases into the environment, the presence of those chemicals in consumer products, and worker exposure to industrial and commercial substances.  TSCA requires the EPA to determine whether new chemicals’ intended, known, or reasonably foreseeable uses may put people’s help or the environment at undue risk of injury.  The Biden administration’s EPA is expected to expand its views of what constitutes “reasonably foreseeable” uses.  A broader view of such uses almost inevitable means consent orders or Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) which can restrict new chemicals’ production or importation.  Consent orders are negotiated between the EPA and the company making seeking to make or import a new chemical, and impose restrictions only on that company.  SNURs imposed the equivalent restrictions on any company that makes or imports the same chemical.

For more information, please contact Phillip Hoover or Vickie Rusek.