Among President Biden’s many Executive Orders in the first days of his administration was one titled, “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” In response to this and other orders and directives, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is planning to review on five final rules the Agency issued under the prior administration (on January 6, 2021) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that address five persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals (listed below).
The USEPA determined that these chemicals require expedited action under TSCA, given the Agency’s charge to protect human health and the environment. The USEPA review will reevaluate information that was available during the promulgation of the final PBT rules as well as new information. As a part of the review process, USEPA issued an invitation for the public to comment on the final PBT rules, stating that such input could include “whether further exposure reductions… could be achieved, including… for potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations and the environment; implementation issues…; and whether to consider additional or alternative measures or approaches.” Comments in response to this invitation must be submitted to USEPA by May 17, 2021 (docket identification number EPA–HQ–OPPT–2021–0202); contact information is available in the Federal Register.
The five PBT chemicals at issue are:
- 2,4,6- tris(tert-butyl)phenol (2,4,6-TTBP) (CASRN 732–26–3);
- decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) (CASRN 1163–19–5);
- phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)) (CASRN 68937–41–7);
- pentachlorothiophenol (PCTP) (CASRN 133–49–3); and
- hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) (CASRN 87–68–3).
