This week, I discuss Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) developments with my colleague, Dr. Richard E. Engler, Director of Chemistry for B&C and The Acta Group (Acta®), our consulting affiliate. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act amendments has been a dynamic, evolving, and unpredictable work in progress for almost nine years. Given the new Administration, we are at a most uncertain time because of the lack of clarity regarding what the new leaders at the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) will do to address new chemical review concerns, risk evaluation under TSCA Section 6, and risk management actions resulting from those evaluations. As listeners know, all final risk management rules are being challenged and the disposition of those cases is the subject of considerable speculation. So also is OCSPP’s consideration of not yet final risk evaluations and how the new Administration intends to interpret TSCA Section 6 in general. There are growing calls for legislative action to remedy some of Lautenberg’s deficits, particularly in the area of new chemicals, another important variable that is destabilizing the status quo. Rich and I discuss these topics and many others.
