On February 9, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its 2017 Annual Report on Risk Evaluations. Per Section 26(n)(2) of the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA is directed to publish an annual plan at the beginning of each calendar year identifying the chemical substances that will undergo risk evaluations during that year – both risk evaluations that will be initiated and that will be completed — the resources necessary for completion, and the status and schedule for ongoing evaluations.
Per amended TSCA Section 6(b)(4), on December 19, 2016, EPA designated ten chemical substances for evaluation to determine whether they presented an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment. Those chemicals are:
- 1, 4 Dioxane;
- Methylene Chloride;
- 1-Bromopropane;
- N-Methylpyrolidone;
- Asbestos;
- Pigment Violet 29;
- Carbon Tetrachloride;
- Trichloroethylene;
- Cyclic Aliphatic Bromide Cluster (HBCD); and
- Tetrachloroethylene.
The report provides an update pertaining to the risk evaluations of these ten chemicals. Risk evaluations on these chemicals have already begun, and EPA anticipates issuing a scoping document for each of them by June 19, 2017. The scoping document will include “the hazard(s), exposure(s), condition(s) of use, and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulation(s) the Administrator expects to consider in the evaluation.” EPA has established a docket for each of the ten chemicals and is holding a public meeting on February 14, 2017, to present information on the specific uses and conditions of use for the chemicals. EPA is currently accepting written comments and materials in the individual dockets until March 15, 2017.
Under Section 6(4)(G) of TSCA, EPA is required to complete these risk evaluations within three to three and a half years. EPA’s initial report to Congress issued on January 18, 2017, detailed the resources it needed for completion of the risk evaluations.
More information on EPA’s proposed processes for prioritizing and evaluating chemicals beyond these first ten is available in our memoranda EPA Proposes Procedures to Prioritize Chemicals for Risk Evaluation under TSCA and EPA Releases Proposed Chemical Risk Evaluation Process under New TSCA.