On May 20, 2024, OSHA published a final rule revising the Agency’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS), which requires that workers be informed of chemical hazards. The rule aligns the HCS with Revision 7 (Rev. 7) of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), which is updated biennially by the United Nations. […]
On May 3, 2024, EPA published a final rule amending the procedures for chemical risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The final rule is largely unchanged from the proposed rule, discussed in a previous Verdant Law blog post. A key change in the final rule is the requirement that risk determinations end […]
Concentrations of six PFAS substances in drinking water will be regulated for the first time under new drinking water standards published by EPA on April 26, 2024. The final rule sets individual maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for PFOA and PFOS at 4 parts per trillion (ppt). The agency found no evidence that any level of […]
EPA would be required to complete overdue risk evaluations by new deadlines if two proposed consent decrees, announced by EPA on April 26, 2024, are adopted. Section 6(b)(4)(G) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires EPA to complete risk evaluations within three years of initiation, with a six-month extension possible. EPA has missed this […]
On March 20, 2024, EPA issued a test order for a PFAS known as NMeFOSE (CASRN 24448-09-7). The order, issued under section 4(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act, requires 3M Co. and Wacker Chemical Corp. to conduct tiered testing on NMeFOSE. NMeFOSE was selected for testing as a representative of a group of similar […]
Inactive PFAS chemicals can no longer reenter commerce without EPA approval under a final significant new use rule (SNUR) issued by EPA on January 11, 2024. The 329 PFAS subject to the SNUR are currently designated as inactive on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory and are not subject to an existing SNUR. (An […]
EPA has preliminarily determined that tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) presents an unreasonable risk to human health and the environment, according to its draft risk assessment of the flame retardant released on December 14, 2023. Animal testing data revealed that exposure to TCEP may increase risk of kidney cancer and other cancers, and could harm neurological and […]
Inhance Technologies LLC (“Inhance”) must stop producing PFAS substances created during its fluorination of high-density polyethylene plastic containers, according to two orders issued by EPA on December 1, 2023. EPA first became aware of PFAS contamination in fluorinated plastic containers in late 2020. In March 2022, EPA issued a Notice of Violation to Inhance for […]
EPA’s ban on the pesticide chlorpyrifos was arbitrary and capricious because the Agency failed to adequately consider other options, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on November 2, 2023, in the case Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Ass’n v. Regan. EPA’s 2021 revocation of all chlorpyrifos tolerances was the result of a Ninth Circuit […]
Under a new California law enacted on October 7, 2023, companies selling carbon offsets or making carbon-neutral claims must now provide evidence to substantiate these measures and claims. The law requires that businesses marketing carbon offsets disclose specific information on their websites. This includes details on how emissions reductions were estimated, data and calculation methods […]
