By Jared Rothstein | February 05, 2019
EPA has published a Federal Register Notice stating that it is extending the review periods for all TSCA Section 5 PMNs, SNUNs, MCANs, and exemption notices that were submitted to the Agency under TSCA section 5 before December 29, 2018 and for which the review period of those notices had not yet expired as of that date. This extension impacts 581 new chemical notifications.
The duration of this extension period is equivalent to the duration of the time period from December 29, 2018 (i.e., the date when most EPA operations ceased due to the lapse in government funding) and the date on which EPA operations for the TSCA New Chemicals Program fully resumed after the shutdown (i.e., January 31, 2019), or a total of 33 days. Because TSCA section 5(c) requires that total extensions not exceed 90 days for PMNs, EPA also states that the 33 day extension gives the Agency the right to issue additional extensions in the future on these notifications for good cause up to a total of 90 days.
Also, during the shutdown, new notifications submitted on or after December 29, 2018, through E-PMN/CDX or other methods were not processed by EPA. Consequently, the review period for any TSCA section 5 notice submitted during the shutdown did not begin until normal operations resumed on January 31, 2019. This impacts a total of 24 new chemical notifications.
Categorized in: Policy, Toxic Substances Control Act