Biden’s EPA Seeks Input on Chemicals that Bioaccumulate in Humans – Major Shift

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is opening a 60-day comment period for the public to provide input on five final rules for persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals issued on January 6, 2021 under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). These rules address exposure to toxic chemicals that remain in the environment for long periods of time and build up in the body. There are 16 PBT chemicals subject to Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting, including dioxin, lead, mercury, and PCBs.

“In another major shift, the Biden EPA is moving forward to regulate chemicals that bioaccumulate in us. They are seeking public comments to regulate these PBT chemicals, which will help protect public health and the environment. These are toxic chemicals that include dioxins, PCBs, lead, and mercury. They can cause cancer, kidney problems, learning disabilities, and many more serious health problems. This is a major reversal from the industry-friendly Trump EPA. It is important that the Biden administration is going to develop regulations that are as protective as possible,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “After four years of a polluter-friendly EPA that looked the other way, we finally have an administration that will actually work to protect public health and the environment.”

The EPA is seeking public input on whether the rules sufficiently reduce exposure to these chemicals, including exposures to potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations, and the environment; Newly-raised compliance issues associated with the final rule on phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)) including the compliance dates for certain regulated articles; And whether to consider additional or alternative measures or approaches.

“The Trump administration sided with polluters and did nothing to develop protective standards. Now Biden is taking action against these chemicals. This is important because PBT chemicals bioaccumulate in a person’s body. They can cause significant health problems like cancer and a weakened immune system. They also can contaminate the environment and bioaccumulate in wildlife, like birds,” said Jeff Tittel. “While Trump tried to delay investigations and gag scientists, the Biden administration is enacting health-based standards and rules for dangerous PBT chemicals. They are going to be looking at updating and strengthening these rules that the previous administration put out.”

EPA will use the feedback received during this public comment period to determine the best path forward, which could include amending the current rules to include additional or alternative exposure reduction measures or extending compliance dates for certain regulated products and articles. Upon publication of the Federal Register notice, EPA will accept public comments in docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0202 on www.regulations.gov for 60 days.

“This is a major step forward to help protect public health and the environment from dangerous chemicals that bioaccumulate in our bodies and the environment. This is especially important in New Jersey because we have major issues with many of these chemicals, including lead, PCBs, and dioxins. We really need to be banning these chemicals because they are extremely toxic and dangerous. Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to developmental defects in children and pregnant women, liver and kidney problems, and even tumors,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This shows that President Biden is working not only to overturn Donald Trump’s horrible anti-environmental legacy but to move this country forward when it comes to clean water, clean air, cleaning up toxic sites, and Environmental Justice.”

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CONTACT: press@epa.gov

EPA Seeks Public Comment on Protecting Human Health and the Environment from PBT Chemicals

WASHINGTON (March 8, 2021) — Today, in accordance with Biden-Harris Administration executive orders and directives, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is asking for additional public input on five final rules for persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals issued on January 6, 2021 under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). These rules, which went into effect last month, address exposure to toxic chemicals that remain in the environment for long periods of time and build up in the body.

“These rules are intended to provide critical health protections for Americans, including children, workers, other potentially at-risk groups, and the environment,” said Michal Freedhoff, Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “Re-examining these rules under the Biden-Harris Administration and making any necessary changes to them will ensure we’re delivering on the promise to protect human health and the environment by reducing exposure to toxic chemicals.”

As a first step in its efforts to immediately review these rules, EPA is opening a 60-day comment period for the public to provide new input on:

This review is being done in accordance with the Protecting Public Health and Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle to Climate Crisis Executive Order, which asks all agencies to review their actions to ensure that they meet statutory obligations, are guided by the best available science, ensure the integrity of federal decision-making, and protect human health and the environment.

EPA will use the feedback received during this public comment period to determine the best path forward, which could include amending the current rules to include additional or alternative exposure reduction measures or extending compliance dates for certain regulated products and articles. Upon publication of the Federal Register notice, EPA will accept public comments in docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0202 on www.regulations.gov for 60 days.

As noted above, the notice seeks comment on newly-raised issues associated with the March 8, 2021, compliance date for the prohibitions on processing and distribution of Phenol, Isopropylated Phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)) for use in articles, and the articles to which PIP (3:1) has been added. Stakeholders recently informed EPA that the prohibition on processing and distribution of PIP (3:1) could impact articles used in a wide variety of electronics, from cell phones, to robotics used to manufacture semiconductors, to equipment used to move COVID-19 vaccines and keep them at the appropriate temperature. Stakeholders note that the complexity of international supply chains makes locating the presence of, and finding alternatives to, PIP (3:1) in components challenging. They assert that an extension to the compliance deadline is necessary to avoid significant disruption to the supply chain for a wide variety of articles. It was not EPA’s intent during the development of the rule to have such a broad disruptive impact. Thus, EPA is also announcing its expectation that this specific issue will be addressed as part of the broader re-examination of these rules. Based in part on the information collected as part of the effort announced today, EPA intends to extend compliance dates as necessary for the prohibitions on processing and distribution of PIP (3:1) for use in some articles, and some of the articles to which PIP (3:1) has been added.

For these same reasons, EPA is issuing a temporary 180-day “No Action Assurance” indicating that the agency will exercise its enforcement discretion regarding the prohibitions on processing and distribution of PIP (3:1) for use in articles, and the articles to which PIP (3:1) has been added. The agency is taking this action to ensure that the supply chain of these important articles is not interrupted while EPA continues to collect the information needed to best inform subsequent regulatory efforts and allow for the issuance of a final agency action to extend the March 8, 2021, compliance date as necessary.

Learn about the public comment period and view the documents related to the “No Action Assurance.”

Learn more about the PBT rules.