How US EPA assesses and regulates chemicals under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act has a number of implications for workplace and consumer safety regulation. In particular, chemicals regulated under other environmental statutes may bear on US EPA’s plans in this arena. US EPA has not regulated a chemical under TSCA Section 6, which provides for regulation of existing as opposed to new chemicals, since 1989, when it adopted a ban on asbestos which was subsequently overturned by a federal Court of Appeals. This 27-year hiatus appears to be coming to an end, as US EPA has indicated that it expects to propose three such rules by late 2016. In a recent article published in the Bloomberg BNA Chemical Regulation Reporter, Squire Patton Boggs’ partner W. Caffey Norman provides insights on this regulatory inter-relationships as US EPA begins moving forward in the new legal landscape following enactment of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act on June 22, 2016.
