What does TSCA reform mean for businesses?

July 20th, 2016 by Dakota Software Staff Industry News

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform was especially rare in that it was a major overhaul of existing safety and environmental regulations that received bipartisan support in the federal legislature and generally broad acceptance from businesses and environmental conservation groups. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) recently reviewed some common questions about the act to clarify its purpose and help stakeholders understand what changes TSCA reform will bring and how those developments impact operations. Let's review some of the most pertinent questions and answers from the ACC and learn what operational differences TSCA reform will create in the short and long terms.

Public perception and support
The ACC highlighted how the level of trust and support from the general public was one of the major and persistent issues facing the older version of TSCA. The limitations of TSCA and unforeseen consequences in the legal language used to craft it meant it was often ineffective in determining the safety of chemicals in a number of industrial and commercial applications. This led to state-level regulation of hazardous chemicals, according to the ACC, which in turn created a complicated, confusing, costly and sometimes contradictory regulatory environment for companies engaging in interstate commerce.

The new version of the environmental regulations requires the EPA to conduct reviews of new and existing chemicals and uses and mandates deadlines for those processes. Clearer mandates to act and regulate exist in relation to unreasonable health risks presented by chemicals. The EPA also has more power to require the development of chemical information on a shorter timeline when it's needed.

In general, these changes mean improved public perception and support for companies following the rules in the long term. It also means a smoother and more focused regulatory environment for companies in the shorter term.

State regulations and cooperation with federal authorities
New TSCA regulations place significant limits on how state authorities can regulate chemicals in industrial and commercial use. The EPA's new federal mandate will generally supersede similar or duplicate state rules - although there are some exceptions, including the use of traditional air and water quality laws. States can't start work on laws intended to regulate chemicals during the federal environmental regulator's risk evaluation period, again with a handful of exceptions related to special dispensation from the EPA and a small group of chemicals that are the first to be reviewed under TSCA. In many ways, states will fill a supplemental role in terms of chemical safety while the EPA handles the bulk of the work and authority.

The timetable for new chemical regulations
The TSCA reform includes a number of specific deadlines for the review of and decisions related to potentially hazardous chemicals. The EPA has 180 days to evaluate the first 10 chemicals on its high-priority list and a year to develop a system to identify new and existing chemicals for reviews of both low and high priority. The regulator must also maintain a constant stream of investigations, beginning evaluation of the next high-priority chemical immediately following the end of the last review.

Protecting confidential business information
Specific provisions in the TSCA amendments protect confidential business information while also emphasizing transparency when appropriate. Claims of confidentiality are addressed during the beginning of the investigatory process and require that the EPA review previous claims of confidential identity in the TSCA inventory.