TSCA

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On November 29, EPA announced that it will review the hazard and exposure risks caused by asbestos. Asbestos will be one of the first ten substances to be evaluated under the TSCA amendments commonly referred to as the Lautenberg Act. As we have discussed elsewhere, TSCA now requires EPA to produce a risk evaluation work plan for these substances by June 2017 and complete its evaluation within three years following. If EPA determines any of these substances pose unreasonable risks, then EPA must take further action to mitigate any risks.
Continue Reading TSCA and Asbestos—a New Approach or One That Reveals the Same Old Problems?

Toxic

On June 22, 2016, President Obama signed the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act into law.  The Act is the first significant change to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act in 40 years and amends the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) methods for reviewing chemical substances before they are marketed and allowed to be used in consumer products.

The Act has several new key features:…
Continue Reading Toxic Substances Control Act Revised for the 21st Century

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It’s not very often that manufacturers and many environmental groups agree on a chemical safety regulation. But that’s what’s happening with the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which passed the Senate late last week, and would reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
Continue Reading Non-Toxic Reform: Senate Passes TSCA Revisions

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On May 9th the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) initiated a process that may result in federal regulation of the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking).  In the past 10 years, United States production of oil and gas has skyrocketed, due in part to the increased use of fracking technologies that use high‐pressure injection of fluids, sand, and chemicals to stimulate the release of oil and gas from geological formations which were difficult to access with other techniques.  While fracking technologies have been in use for some time, environmentalists have argued that the public lacked adequate information to assess whether chemicals used in fracking posed represented threats to human health or the environment.…
Continue Reading USEPA Takes First Step Toward Possible Federal Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing