David Fischer Quoted in Article on How EPA’s TSCA Assessments Overhaul Renews Debate on PPE

Keller and Heckman Counsel David Fischer was quoted in the Inside TSCA article, “EPA’s Plans to Overhaul TSCA Assessments Renew Debate on PPE Use.” The article discusses how the announcement by the Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it intends to reconsider Trump-era assumptions on workers’ use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in at least two TSCA chemical evaluations is restarting debate on how the toxics program should address worker safety – a thorny question since the law gives officials little direction on that subject.

While the agency is still awaiting decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on its requests to remand two Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) chemical evaluations in part to rework their approach to PPE, two former officials say the fact that it has made that request at all shows a clear break from the Trump-era policy of assuming workers will follow workplace-safety mandates to wear PPE when gauging chemical exposure risks.

“We did have a lot of conversations at EPA when I was there. Is it reasonable to assume people aren’t following the [workplace safety] law? What is ‘reasonable?’ I’d think it is reasonable to assume that," said David. 

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