U.S. EPA Releases Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution
On April 21, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the draft “National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution” that could have serious implications for the regulated community, including the packaging industry, retailers, plastic manufacturers, solid waste management facilities, and recycling facilities, among others. According to the draft strategy, EPA is seeking to eliminate the release of plastic and other waste from land-based sources into the environment by 2040 through the following objectives: reducing pollution during plastic production, improving postuse materials management, preventing trash and micro/nano plastics from entering waterways, and removing escaped trash from the environment. Within these objectives EPA identified various research and regulatory actions under consideration. Among the regulatory actions under consideration, EPA signaled it was exploring new rules under the Toxic Substances Control Act for advanced recycling facilities that use pyrolysis to process recovered feedstocks into recycled plastics. The agency also called for ratification of the Basel Convention, which the United States agreed to in the 1990s but failed to ratify, as another approach to addressing international plastic waste.
U.S. EPA Proposes to More Than Double Toxic Substances and Control Act Fees
On November 16, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to raise its current Toxic Substances and Control Act (TSCA) fees, some of which would be more than doubled. This supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking modifies EPA’s proposal from January 11, 2021, which then aimed to increase the TSCA fees largely for inflation adjustment. TSCA allows EPA to collect fees from manufacturers, including importers, for the agency’s activities under TSCA Sections 4, 5, 6, and 14. Under the TSCA, EPA is required to adjust the fees “as necessary” every three years. In 2018, EPA promulgated a fee rule in 40 CFR part 700, subpart C, and set the current fees pursuant to that rule.
EPA Issues Toxic Substances Control Act Significant New Use Rules for Certain Chemical Substances Used in Chemical Manufacturing and Petroleum Refining
On Thursday, September 29, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for chemical substances that are the subject of premanufacture notices and associated TSCA orders prohibiting manufacturers from undertaking significant new uses. (more…)
U.S. EPA Identifies Five PFAS Added to Toxic Release Inventory List, Four of Them Newly Required for Reporting by July 1, 2023
On July 18, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule updating the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to identify five per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) added to the TRI pursuant to the framework set by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA). (more…)