EPA Announces Updates to Confidential Status of Chemicals on the TSCA Inventory

On April 29, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of a list of 390 chemicals that it states are “expected to lose their confidential status and move to the public portion of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory, furthering the agency’s commitment to data transparency.”  According to EPA, the specific identities of these chemicals were reported as non-confidential during Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) cycles from the 2012, 2016, and/or 2020 reporting periods.  In accordance with the CDR rule and with TSCA Sections 8 and 14, EPA intends to update the TSCA Inventory listings for these chemicals to list the specific chemical identities on the public portion of the Inventory.  Stakeholders should check the list of substances and ensure that none of those substances is of critical importance to maintain confidential status.  Stakeholders with interest, questions, or concerns about this change in confidential status may contact the listed EPA staff no later than May 14, 2021.  EPA expects to include the specific chemical identities of these 390 chemicals in the next routine publication of the public TSCA Inventory, anticipated in late summer 2021.