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June 21, 2018

EPA Issues Guidance on Points to Consider when Preparing TSCA New Chemical Notifications

Lynn L. Bergeson Carla N. Hutton

On June 20, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued guidance intended “to improve transparency with the public and with companies seeking Agency review of their new chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).”  EPA states that the guidance, entitled Points to Consider When Preparing TSCA New Chemical Notifications, “promotes early engagement and communication, and enhances overall understanding of EPA’s technical review and analysis to better move chemicals through the evaluation process.”  EPA incorporated comments from a December 2017 public meeting and feedback received on a November 2017 draft of the document into its guidance.  EPA also issued a “Response to Comments Received on Points to Consider Posted for Comment November 2017.”  EPA states that it expects that use of the guidance will result in “more robust submissions.”  EPA encourages companies to contact its new chemicals program to set up a pre-submission (or “pre-notice”) meeting before submitting their premanufacture notices (PMN).  According to EPA, the pre-submission meeting is an opportunity to discuss the planned new chemical submission and to understand EPA’s approach to reviewing new chemicals for potential risks early in the process.

More information will be available in our detailed analysis to be issued in a memorandum later today and posted to our Recent Regulatory Developments web page.