Herb Estreicher, James Votaw, and David Fischer Quoted in an Inside TSCA Article on EPA Enforcement Strategy for PFAS Reporting Rule

Keller and Heckman Partners Herb Estreicher and James Votaw and Counsel David Fischer were quoted in the Inside TSCA article, “Attorneys Question EPA Enforcement Strategy For PFAS Reporting Rule.” The article refers to Keller and Heckman’s October 11, 2023, special 60-minute TSCA 30/30 webinar, where the attorneys discussed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule to require reporting of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) data under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 

During the webinar, the attorneys questioned how EPA plans to enforce these broad new TSCA reporting mandates for PFAS. James pointed out that when organizations begin to file their PFAS reports, this new reporting rule could trigger some “second-guessing” on their prior actions. “[A] lot of those past decisions” not to file such reports for PFAS “will be up for second-guessing, in hindsight,” he said.

Herb noted that the new rule requires that companies turn in health and safety studies related to PFAS they are manufacturing, and then wondered whether this requirement opens up the potential for allegations by NGOs that companies failed to report these studies under section 8(e).

In agreement with Herb, James added that provision will capture situations where companies may have decided previously that particular information was not reportable. But, he said, “now everything, regardless of its status, is going to be reported.”

David also warned that the volume of data EPA receives when reports arrive in 2025 “could be unprecedented and absolutely overwhelming. So we’ll see if EPA has the bandwidth” to handle it.

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