Herb Estreicher Quoted in the Inside EPA Article, "Industry Attorney Backs TSCA Process Petition but Doubts EPA Action"

Keller and Heckman Partner Herb Estreicher, Ph.D., was quoted in the Inside EPA article, “Industry Attorney Backs TSCA Process Petition but Doubts EPA Action.” The article discusses how, during an August 12th webinar, Dr. Estreicher praised the recent petition from downstream chemical users asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to craft new process rules for how it will conduct Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk management regulations governing uses of existing chemicals found to present unreasonable risk. However, like other observers, he is questioning the likelihood EPA accepts the request.

“This is a very interesting and well-done petition,” Dr. Estreicher said. “I mean, quite frankly, the only problem with it is . . . I think this would have been much more likely to succeed if it had been submitted earlier in this administration. But of course, I guess that EPA probably wasn’t focusing on risk management until right now and so they probably would have denied the petition if had it been submitted earlier,” Estreicher added. “It’ll interesting to see what EPA does, whether they deny it or not.”

Dr. Estreicher was discussing the TSCA section 21 petition, filed with the agency last June by a coalition of trade groups. The petition asks EPA to write a procedural rule that would provide guard rails to ensure consistency, transparency, and effective public communication in developing risk mitigation requirements for companies following EPA completion of a Risk Evaluation under TSCA.

“The intent of the petition is to have EPA replace the risk management rules that were formally in part 750 of the EPA regulations that were repealed because they were outdated and eclipsed by [TSCA reform],” Dr. Estreicher said. “The argument is there is a need for new risk management procedural rules to replace the outdated ones that were repealed in 2016.”

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