EPA Releases Final Review Plan for Certain CBI Claims under TSCA
Thursday, February 20, 2020

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released on February 19, 2020, a final rule concerning the process companies must follow to make certain confidential business information (CBI) claims and EPA’s plan for reviewing those claims.  EPA describes its final rule as creating “an efficient process” for fulfilling the CBI requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and providing clarity for affected stakeholders.  Following the procedures set forth in the final rule, EPA states that it will review CBI claims made for chemical substance identity for chemicals on the “active” portion of the TSCA Inventory.  These procedures and requirements are intended to help ensure that when a company claims the identity of a chemical as CBI, that claim meets the criteria laid out in TSCA.

The final rule is a follow-on to EPA’s 2017 TSCA Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Rule and amends certain substantiation provisions of that rule in response to a recent federal court decision.  The final rule applies to manufacturers and processors who made CBI claims for specific chemical identities for chemicals reported as “active” in response to the TSCA Inventory (Active-Inactive) Notification Rule.  The final rule describes the procedures and deadlines for substantiating these CBI claims, including provisions for supplementing certain previously filed substantiations.

The final rule also describes EPA’s plan to review these CBI claims for “active” chemicals, including procedures for its publication of annual review goals and results.  Manufacturers that amend, update, or file new CBI substantiations consistent with the new requirements must do so electronically via EPA’s Central Data Exchange.  According to EPA, providing this information electronically supports more efficient data transmittal, improves data quality, and minimizes respondent burden and EPA administrative costs associated with information submission and recordkeeping.

Information on EPA’s 2017 TSCA Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Rule is available in our June 26, 2017, memorandum, “EPA Issues Final TSCA Framework Rules.”

 

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