The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in today’s Federal Register its proposed approach to updating the list of chemical substances manufactured or processed in the United States, commonly known as the TSCA Inventory. This proposed rule advances another piece of EPA’s new “framework” for assessing chemical risk mandated under the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (LCSA).

Background -

The LCSA requires EPA to designate all chemicals on the TSCA Inventory of chemicals in commerce as either active or inactive. Within one year, EPA must issue a rule requiring manufacturers (including importers) and processors to identify all Inventory substances that they have manufactured, imported, or processed in the past ten years. EPA will then designate all such identified chemicals as “active” and deem all other substances on the Inventory as “inactive”.