EPA Provides Final Opportunity to Submit a Request under the 1980 Guidelines to Correct the Chemical Identity of a Substance on the TSCA Inventory

On February 25, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is revoking the 1980 guidelines and associated procedures for correcting the specific chemical identities of incorrectly described chemical substances submitted to EPA in 1978 using the original reporting form for inclusion on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory. 87 Fed. Reg. 10781. EPA states that it is providing a final opportunity to use the 1980 guidelines and form to request corrections of Inventory listings to address errors with the chemical identities submitted in the original reporting forms. The regulated community will have until April 26, 2022, to submit any final Inventory corrections. EPA also announced the discontinuation of the related form and associated approval of the collection activities under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). The revocation will be effective May 31, 2022. All final Inventory corrections must be received on or before April 26, 2022.
 
After April 26, 2022, EPA does not intend to accept requests to correct original Inventory reporting forms. If, after April 26, 2022, a person discovers for any reason an error in the specific chemical identity of a chemical substance submitted on an original Inventory reporting form, a premanufacture notice (PMN) or exemption notice may need to be filed if the chemical substance is not already listed on the TSCA Inventory.
 
EPA notes that this action does not impact its authority for initiating, at its discretion, corrections to the Inventory should EPA determine on its own that, for example, a chemical substance listed on the Inventory has been unintentionally misidentified. EPA states that only in this situation will it, at its discretion, request and accept documentation from a company to support an Inventory correction in lieu of requiring a PMN or exemption notice. This action also does not impact EPA’s regular maintenance of the Inventory that can include nomenclature updates and correcting minor errors to listings.
 
EPA’s unilateral decision seems ill-considered and unwise. At the least, EPA should seek comment from the TSCA stakeholder community to inform its judgment.