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EPA Extends Notification Period for Inventory
The Environmental Protection Agency has announced in an emailed press release that it has extended the notification deadline for a list of chemicals that are expected to lose their confidential chemical identity status.
The list of 390 chemicals was released last month, and those listed are slated be moved to the public portion of the Toxic Substances Control Act inventory.
What Happened
The movement of 390 chemicals from confident to public is reportedly a move that aims to further the agency’s commitment to data transparency.
According to the EPA, the identities of these chemicals were reported as non-confidential during Chemical Data Reporting cycles from the 2012, 2016 and/or 2020 reporting periods. In accordance with the CDR rule and with TSCA sections 8 and 14, the EPA intends to update the TSCA Inventory listings for these chemicals to list the specific chemical identities on the public portion of the Inventory.
The EPA has published a list of the chemicals currently identifying them by their accession numbers.
The EPA initially noted that stakeholders with interest, questions or concerns about this change in confidential status should contact the EPA no later than May 14.
What Now
The EPA now says that because of the industry response, the notification deadline has now been pushed to June 30.
“EPA received letters from the American Chemistry Council and BASF requesting additional time to review the list of chemicals expected to lose their confidential chemical identity status,” the agency said.
“Specifically, concerns were expressed over the potential that some of the chemicals overlap with those reported under the Active-Inactive rule and the perception that EPA identified these chemicals through reliance only on 2020 Chemical Data Reporting rule submissions.”
Regarding the CDR concerns, the EPA said that it plans to declassify the specific identities of these chemicals because they were reported as non-confidential by one or more manufacturers during the 2012, 2016, and/or 2020 CDR reporting periods—meaning that at least one manufacturer did not request that each of the chemical identities be kept confidential, meaning that it’s not a secret that the chemical is in U.S. commerce.
In addition, the agency said that it also acknowledges that some of the chemicals on this list may also have been reported or subject to reporting under the Active-Inactive rule referenced in the industry stakeholder requests. This rule required companies to identify chemicals that were manufactured, imported, or processed in the U.S. during the 10-year time period ending on June 21, 2016. The agency said that it is aware that some entities have claimed there was submitter confusion and questions regarding confidentiality claims during the initial reporting period.
However, the EPA noted that for each of these 390 chemicals there is also one or more independent CDR-based (and EPA-validated) reason to consider the chemical identities to be no longer eligible for inclusion on the confidential portion of the Inventory.
Therefore, the EPA still intends to update the TSCA Inventory listings for these chemicals to list the specific chemical identities on the public portion of the Inventory this summer.
