UPDATE: If Your Company Manufactures or Imports Chemicals in the U.S., We Need Your Input

Key Summary

• Companies manufacturing or importing chemicals in the U.S. should review EPA’s proposed updates to the TSCA Fees Rule
• The rule funds EPA’s chemical risk evaluations, which will involve 20–30 substances each year
• Proposed changes include several exemptions and a volume-based fee structure
• IPC seeks member feedback to support practical reforms and strengthen EPA submissions
• Comments to EPA are due February 25, with initial feedback to IPC requested by January 26

If your company manufactures or imports chemicals in the United States, then you need to review the proposed rule to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “TSCA Fees Rule.” Comments are due on or before February 25, but we welcome your initial feedback by Tuesday, January 26.

The original rule, published in 2018, provides the EPA with a source of funds to fulfill its obligations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), including the completion of risk evaluations of high-priority chemical substances. The proposed changes to this rule are important because, under TSCA, the EPA will have between 20 and 30 risk evaluations occurring in any given year; and even if the current list of such substances does not apply to your company, future lists may apply, and you may be obligated to pay at that time.

IPC and its peer associations have been communicating with the EPA and other federal policymakers to underscore the need for commonsense reforms to the 2018 rule, and we are pleased that the proposed rule appears to make important and positive changes.  For example, the EPA is proposing exemptions for companies that manufacture or import high-priority chemical substances in quantities below 2,500 pounds per year; or produce them as a non-isolated intermediate; or import them in an article, produce them as a byproduct, or produce/import them as an impurity.  Also, the EPA is proposing a volume-based fee allocation. However, even with these positive provisions, we need to continue to provide information to the EPA to ensure those changes are instituted.

Comments on the proposed rule are due to the EPA within 45 days, or by February 25. To prepare for that comment period, we welcome your initial feedback on the pre-publication version of the proposed rule by Tuesday, January 26.

During your review, please consider the following:

• To bolster the case for the proposed exemptions, can you provide data on the potential impacts of the “TSCA Fees Rule” on your operations?
• How would the proposed fee calculation methods impact small businesses?
• Should a volume-based fee allocation be calculated on average volume over the last five years, based on the most recent year of reporting; or could the EPA use production volume ranges and calculate fees based on those ranges?

Please contact me with your questions and feedback, and update your IPC email preferences (advocacy) to receive all of our environment, health, and safety information. I will continue to keep you updated.