James Votaw Quoted in Inside TSCA Article, "Industry Doubts EPA Will Fulfill Ambitious TSCA Regulatory Agenda in 2020"

Keller and Heckman Partner James Votaw was quoted in the Inside TSCA article, “Industry Doubts EPA Will Fulfill Ambitious TSCA Regulatory Agenda in 2020.” The article discusses how EPA has yet to send to the White House draft versions of several key rules for overhauling its TSCA program for both new and existing chemicals that it plans to propose or issue as final this year, prompting some industry lawyers to question whether the agency will meet its ambitious regulatory targets.

The proposal is intended to set “procedures” for companies to submit premanufacture notifications (PMNs) for new chemicals under TSCA section 5.

“EPA is proposing its ‘procedural regulations’ for reviewing new chemicals under TSCA section 5 based on the Unified Agenda to help solve the problems that they think they have. That’s why I understand why they want to do this,” said Mr. Votaw. He stressed that EPA’s desire to propose a rule on PMN procedures is more a priority for the agency than for industry.

“I think there are other issues that industry has about the way that PMNs are processed,” he said. “And I would hope that before the agency would be proposing something that they would do greater outreach to hear more about that. I think that would be extremely useful.”

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