Company Sues EPA to Block Disclosure of Chemical Identities Under TSCA

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A silicates manufacturer is suing EPA to prevent the disclosure of its confidential business information (CBI) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), in what at least one source claims may be a case of first impression under the law.

At issue are the chemical identities of two substances that Burgess Pigment Co. initially failed to substantiate as CBI following the 2016 Lautenberg Amendments to TSCA, which introduced new requirements for companies that seek trade secret protection in their submissions to EPA.

Burgess claims it submitted adequate substantiation once it discovered its oversight, maintained its CBI claim in subsequent filings, and has stayed in “constant contact” with EPA.  According to the complaint, if EPA discloses the chemical identities anyway, it would violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

“EPA’s unreasonable adherence to form over function caused it to fail to adhere to its regulations requiring nondisclosure of properly substantiated CBI and is otherwise arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law,” the complaint states.

According to the complaint, Burgess was one of many companies that failed to respond to the 2017 rule implementing the new CBI requirements.  In 2021, EPA released a rule to reopen the reporting period, but it was never published in the Federal Register.

The case is Burgess Pigment Co. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 5:25-cv-00309 (M.D. Ga.), filed 7/18/25.

Trump Administration Proposes Overhaul of Biden-Era TSCA Risk Evaluation Framework

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On September 23, 2025, EPA published a proposed rule that would roll back key provisions of the agency’s May 2024 risk evaluation framework rule, which sets out the procedures EPA uses to assess the risks of existing chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

According to EPA, the proposal is intended to “effectuate the best reading of the statute and ensure that the procedural framework rule does not impede the timely completion of risk evaluations or impair the effective and efficient protection of health and the environment.”

The rollback is a priority for the Trump administration, which first announced its intent to reconsider the rulemaking in March.  The 2024 rule—itself a revision of a rule issued during the first Trump administration—has been criticized by industry groups such as the American Chemistry Council and targeted for revision by the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” initiative.

What Changes is EPA Proposing?

If finalized, the rule would:

  • Grant EPA discretion to narrow the scope of risk evaluations by excluding conditions of use and exposure pathways from its assessments.
  • Require that separate risk determinations be made for each of a chemical’s conditions of use, instead of a single risk determination for the chemical as a whole.
  • Remove language prohibiting EPA from assuming worker protections through PPE usage.
  • Eliminate “overburdened communities” from the list of “potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations” that must be considered in evaluations.
  • Provide EPA with greater flexibility to revise or supplement scope or risk evaluation documents without restarting the prioritization process.
  • Scale back information collection requirements for manufacturers requesting a risk evaluation.
Stakeholder Responses

The proposal has drawn criticism from environmental groups, who warn that the changes—particularly EPA’s ability to exclude conditions of use and exposure pathways—will jeopardize public health.

“Rather than looking at the full picture of a chemical’s toxic risk, EPA wants to downplay the links these chemicals have to cancer and chronic disease and give the chemical industry a handout at the expense of our health and safety,” an Environmental Defense Fund official said in a statement.

“The chemicals in the pipeline for review under TSCA have been prioritized specifically because of the risks they pose to our health, and rewriting this process to lowball risks will only rig the rules to benefit the chemical industry,” she continued.

The American Chemistry Council, on the other hand, applauded the move.  “This proposed approach demonstrates EPA’s commitment to refining its processes in a way that is both protective and practical,” an official said in a press release.  “The proposal reflects meaningful progress toward a more science-driven regulatory framework for conducting TSCA risk evaluations.”

Comments on the proposed rule are due November 7, 2025.  More on the 2024 rule can be found here.

EPA to Fast-Track Chemical Reviews for AI and Data Center Projects

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EPA will prioritize review of premanufacture notices (PMNs) for chemicals tied to artificial intelligence (AI) and data center projects, the agency announced on September 18, 2025.

“We inherited a massive backlog of new chemical reviews from the Biden Administration which is getting in the way of projects as it pertains to data center and artificial intelligence projects,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said.  “The Trump EPA wants to get out of the way and help speed up progress on these critical developments, as opposed to gumming up the works.”

The policy implements President Trump’s Executive Order 14318, “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure,” which directs the agency to expedite permitting for qualifying projects under a variety of environmental statutes, including the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

What Projects are Eligible?

Two types of projects can qualify for expedited review:

  1. Data center projects requiring more than 100 megawatts (MW) of new load dedicated to AI inference, training, simulation, or synthetic data generation.
  2. Covered component projects, which include the materials, products, and infrastructure needed to build or operate such facilities—such as energy infrastructure, power plants, semiconductors, networking equipment, and data storage systems or software.

To be eligible, a project must also meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • A commitment of $500 million or more in capital expenditures.
  • An incremental electric load addition of more than 100 MW.
  • Direct relevance to national security.
  • Official designation as a qualifying project by a federal department.
How to Request Priority Review

According to updated EPA guidance, the new priority review process will take effect on September 29, 2025. To request it, PMN submitters must:

  • Attach a cover letter to their PMN submission via EPA’s Central Data Exchange (CDX).
  • Identify the specific data center or covered-component project the chemical will support.
  • Show that the project meets at least one of the executive order’s qualifying criteria.
  • Provide supporting documentation, such as permitting records, project announcements, or letters of support, plus details on how the chemical will be used.

EPA has posted detailed instructions for companies seeking priority review on its PMN guidance webpage.

Coalition Letter to Congress Calls for Streamlined TSCA Chemical Reviews

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A collection of over 100 trade associations is calling on Congress to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to “ensure a regulatory system that balances human health and environmental concerns with domestic supply chain and innovation needs and supports growth in our manufacturing sector.”

The American Alliance for Innovation (AAI) letter, sent to congressional leaders on September 8, 2025, suggests a number of “improvements and clarifications” to the statute, including:

  • Ensuring timely and predictable reviews of new chemicals;
  • Avoiding unnecessary regulation, including overuse of Consent Orders (COs) and Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) that discourage adoption of innovative and sustainable chemicals;
  • Following a risk-based approach to regulating a chemical’s intended use in commerce that is rooted in actual uses and real-world scenarios;
  • Strengthening the scientific standards included in TSCA for what constitutes “the weight of the scientific evidence;” and,
  • Providing additional clarity to other sections of TSCA that govern testing, regulatory petitions, and data sharing.

AAI suggests that these changes be incorporated into any legislation to extend TSCA’s fee authority, which expires at the end of fiscal year 2026.

EPA Withdraws SNURs for 18 Chemicals Following Community Challenge

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EPA has withdrawn proposed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) significant new use rules (SNURs) for 18 chemical substances developed by Chevron USA, after a community organization argued that EPA’s regulation failed to address “extreme health risks” to residents near industrial sites in Mississippi.

EPA previously withdrew the corresponding TSCA section 5(e) order and premanufacture notice (PMN) determinations for the chemicals in December 2024, following a voluntary remand in a D.C. Circuit challenge to the order, Cherokee Concerned Citizens (CCC) v. EPA, No. 23-01096.

“Consistent with the withdrawal of the TSCA 5(e) Order” and received comments, “EPA is withdrawing the proposed rules,” EPA’s July 9, 2025, Federal Register notice states.

Petitioner Arguments

In the associated case, CCC argued that the 5(e) order—which restricted uses of the chemicals beyond those proposed by Chevron in its PMNs and mandated worker protections—did nothing to protect fenceline communities from health risks identified by EPA in its analyses.

“[T]he Order summarizes numerous risks that exceed by orders of magnitude the risk levels EPA has consistently defined as ‘unreasonable’ and then recites trivial requirements for Chevron’s production and use of the waste plastic chemicals that could not possibly mitigate the risks to people living near the refinery,” CCC’s opening brief stated.

Among the risks identified by EPA was a one-in-four chance that people exposed to long-term air pollution generated by one chemical would develop cancer—a risk 250,000 times greater than EPA’s one-in-a-million cancer risk benchmark, according to CCC.  In its motion for voluntary remand, EPA acknowledged it had “substantial concerns that the Section 5 Order may have been made in error.”

The SNURs identified significant new uses to include uses that did not conform to the 5(e) order, as well as the manufacture or processing of the chemicals using feedstocks containing PFAS or other chemicals of concern.

The PMNs stated that the chemicals would be used as a fuel, fuel additive, fuel blending stock, or refinery feedstock.  EPA reports that their manufacture had not yet commenced at the time the order was withdrawn.

Phil Moffat to Present at Chemical Watch Regulatory Summit North America 2025

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Verdant Law is pleased to announce that Phil Moffat will speak at Chemical Watch’s Regulatory Summit North America 2025, which will take place September 15–18 in Alexandria, Virginia.

On September 15 at 11:50 am, Mr. Moffat will present on the Trump administration’s implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) New Chemicals Program.  At 12:40 pm, Mr. Moffat will join an extended Q&A panel titled “Stakeholder perspectives on new chemical trends.”

Registration for the summit is open for both in-person and virtual attendance.

Update – September 16, 2025

Slides from Mr. Moffat’s presentation, “Balancing Innovation and Risk Management: TSCA’s New Chemical Review Process,” are now available here.

CEH Settles with Chemical Importer over Alleged CDR Omissions

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Last month, the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) announced a “legally binding agreement” with Wego Chemical Group over alleged failures to disclose chemical imports to EPA.  The agreement is the latest negotiated by CEH, which has aggressively pursued violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act’s (TSCA’s) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) requirements.

“Between 2016-2019, Wego imported tens of millions of pounds of chemicals but failed to submit any reports of these imports to the EPA in 2020 as required by TSCA,” CEH’s press release states.  The company allegedly failed to report a total of 104 chemicals, including ethylene thiourea, which EPA classifies as a potential carcinogen.

CEH uncovers possible CDR violations by cross-referencing import data with CDR submissions.  The environmental organization has reached a number of settlements with chemical companies, including an October 2024 agreement with AOC LLC, discussed in a previous blog post.

Wego, based in New York, describes itself as a “chemical supply and distribution group.”  The full text of the settlement agreement has not been made publicly available.

EPA Requests Comment on Reconsideration of PCE Rule

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On July 30, 2025, EPA published a request for comment as it reconsiders its regulation of perchloroethylene (PCE) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  The request marks the first step toward potentially amending the rule issued in December 2024, which prohibited or phased out most uses of the solvent.

EPA is particularly interested in receiving comment on:

  • Whether the existing chemical exposure limit of 0.14 parts per million (ppm) should be replaced by a different limit, such as the non-cancer exposure limit of 0.5 ppm or the lifetime cancer exposure limit of 0.47 ppm;
  • Conditions of use that may be better managed through workplace protections rather than bans; and
  • Use of PCE in industrial dry cleaning processes, including workplace controls and the performance of alternatives in those operations.

EPA first announced its intent to revisit the rule in a May 12 motion requesting that the Fifth Circuit place a consolidated legal challenge to the regulation on indefinite hold.  The court denied that request, instead granting a 90-day stay.

The PCE rule was primarily driven by concerns over the solvent’s neurotoxicity.  It bans all consumer uses of PCE as well as many industrial and commercial uses, including a 10-year phaseout for use in dry cleaning.  Many of the uses that are not prohibited, such as use in aircraft and petrochemical manufacturing, will be subject to workplace exposure controls.

According to EPA’s May 12 filing, any revisions to the rule are expected to take 12 to 18 months.  Comments on the notice are due August 29, 2025.

EPA Updates Safer Choice Program’s Ingredients List

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On July 21, 2025, EPA added 18 chemicals to the Safer Chemicals Ingredients List (SCIL).  The move may signal that the agency plans to continue the Safer Choice program, despite earlier speculation that the Trump administration might transition it to the private sector.

With the update, there are now 983 chemicals on the SCIL.  The list is designed to help manufacturers find safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals.  Products that meet the criteria of the Safer Choice program are eligible to carry the “Safer Choice” label.  The SCIL can be found here.

The voluntary program was targeted for elimination by the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” initiative.  However, industry groups such as the American Cleaning Institute urged the Trump administration to retain it.

In a press release announcing the update, EPA states that the additions “support[] Administrator Zeldin’s commitment to transparency, innovation and safer chemistry.”  The agency also notes that using existing SCIL-listed chemicals can help companies avoid delays tied to the approval of new substances—an acknowledgment of industry concerns about the backlog in EPA’s review process.

“Without an approval from EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act, new chemistries don’t make it to market, which simultaneously holds back the manufacturing and innovation sectors and keeps older chemistries in regulation,” the release states.

The 18 additions represent a variety of functional classes, including emollients, polymers, and surfactants.  All but one are either verified or expected to be of low concern based on experimental and modelled data.

The exception, sodium polyphosphates, is only allowed as an oxidant stabilizer due to possible hazards.  Its “yellow triangle” designation indicates that it is one of the safest chemicals available for its function, but that its function is in need of safer chemistry innovation.

Last year, EPA expanded the Safer Choice program by introducing sustainable packaging criteria and a Safer Choice Cleaning Service certification.  More on that update can be found here.

EPA Finalizes TSCA Risk Evaluation for Solvent 1,1-Dichloroethane

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EPA has determined that 1,1-dichloroethane presents an unreasonable risk of injury to human health in its final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk evaluation for the chlorinated solvent, released June 20, 2025.

The agency identified worker risks from three specific conditions of use (COUs): processing for recycling, and processing as a reactant as an intermediate in certain chemical and chemical product manufacturing.  Five other evaluated COUs did not significantly contribute to the risk determination, and the agency did not identify unreasonable risks to the general public or the environment.

The evaluation found that exposure to 1,1-dichloroethane may increase the risk of non-cancer renal, olfactory, and reproductive effects, as well as tumor formation, based on hazard read-across data from 1,2-dichloroethane, an isomer of the solvent.

Because EPA determined that 1,1-dichloroethane presents an unreasonable risk, the agency is statutorily required to issue a final rule that mitigates those risks within two years, with up to two years of extensions possible.

Narrowed Findings

Notably, the final risk evaluation reached significantly less conservative conclusions about 1,1-dichloroethane’s risks than the draft risk evaluation, released in July 2024.  The draft found that seven COUs significantly contributed to the determination instead of three, and identified unreasonable risks to the environment based on risks to algae and invertebrates.

Among the changes made in the final risk evaluation were revisions to the “considerations of risk factors” for repackaging and disposal, use of “central tendency instead of the high-end for dermal exposure” for all COUs, and the incorporation of “considerations of personal protective equipment (PPE) use.”

According to EPA, 1,1-dichloroethane is primarily used to produce other chlorinated solvents with “broad industrial applications.”  The final risk evaluation notes that, in 2020, between 200 million and one billion pounds were manufactured by two corporations in the Southern US, with none imported.

More information on the risk evaluation can be found on EPA’s website.