Herb Estreicher and Tom Berger Quoted in ChemicalWatch Article on the Unexpected Delay to TSCA Inventory Designations

The article discusses the USEPA’s recent announcement that the 90-day transitional period for submitting Notice of Activity (NOA) Form Bs under the TSCA Inventory “active/inactive” “reset” rule (82 Fed. Reg. 37,520 (Aug. 11, 2017)) began on May 5, 2019 and will end on August 5, 2019, later than was previously announced. The 90-day period provides an opportunity for companies to inform EPA of the commercial introduction of substances now listed as inactive and that are currently being manufactured, imported, or processed. It also allows companies planning to manufacture, import, or process inactive substances in the following 90 days to submit NOA Form Bs prior to August 5, 2019.

Based on EPA’s March 13, 2019 public webinar, it was widely and incorrectly believed that the 90-day transitional period began after the February 19, 2019 posting of the updated TSCA Inventory on EPA’s website, such that the transitional period would end on May 20, 2019. Accordingly, it is likely that many companies have already submitted NOA Form Bs. Based on their experienced evaluation of the situation, Dr. Estreicher and Mr. Berger told ChemicalWatch that one could make the argument that NOA Form Bs submitted before May 5th "technically…should not be effective", because the regulations require that they be submitted during the correct 90-day period. "While we have not confirmed this with EPA, we believe that the agency would consider any and all otherwise proper NOA Form Bs submitted between February 19th and May 5th as being in full compliance with the active/inactive rule," they said. 

Dr. Estreicher and Mr. Berger concluded that "it is not clear why EPA delayed the issuance of the signed action, but it is only good news for industry."

To read the full ChemicalWatch article, click here.