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        • Groundwater Quality Monitoring at CCR Units
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        • Upgrading Kangaroo Creek Dam
        • Complying with industrial stormwater planning updates
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        • Filtering microplastics
        • Lead in Drinking Water
        • Permitting for industrial stormwater discharge in Illinois
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        • Enabling electricity evolution
        • Groundwater Quality Monitoring at CCR Units
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        • EPA 2017 Stormwater Construction General Permit
        • Managing Outrage
        • Groundwater Quality Monitoring at CCR Units
        • Lead in Drinking Water
        • Proposed emission reductions for oil and gas
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        • Transforming perspectives on complex sites
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TSCA Reform Bill

TSCA Reform is on its way to become a law

HomeNews and InsightsTransforming perspectives on complex sitesTSCA Reform is on its way to become a law
  • News and Insights
    Toggle Section
    • Transforming perspectives on complex sites
      Toggle Section
      • Water
      • Energy & Resources
      • Benzene Fenceline Monitoring Program
      • Property & Buildings
      • Transportation
      • Digital
      • Advisory
      • Project Management
      • Planning for uncertainty
      • Non-revenue water losses
      • Achieving business sustainability
      • Flood Modelling and Water meter Calibration
      • Waste to Energy for Wastewater Treatment
      • Integrated Water Management
      • Resource Recovery from Wastewater
      • Transitioning to customer-centric apporaches
      • Groundwater Quality Monitoring at CCR Units
      • California children affected by lead poisoning
      • Water Recycling Fund Program
      • Upgrading Kangaroo Creek Dam
      • Complying with industrial stormwater planning updates
      • EPA 2017 Stormwater Construction General Permit
      • Filtering microplastics
      • Lead in Drinking Water
      • Permitting for industrial stormwater discharge in Illinois
      • Storm Water Grant Program (SWGP)
      • Water Recycling Fund Program
      • Microgrid in WA
      • EPA 2017 Stormwater Construction General Permit
      • Permitting for industrial stormwater discharge in Illinois
      • Court upholds emission monitoring for oil and gas
      • Storm Water Grant Program (SWGP)
      • Enabling electricity evolution
      • Groundwater Quality Monitoring at CCR Units
      • Infrastructure owners face change
      • Proposed emission reductions for oil and gas
      • Underground storage closure requirements
      • US Congress votes to lift US oil export ban
      • EPA 2017 Stormwater Construction General Permit
      • Managing Outrage
      • Groundwater Quality Monitoring at CCR Units
      • Lead in Drinking Water
      • Proposed emission reductions for oil and gas
      • USEPA intends to expand the Risk Management Program
      • Transforming perspectives on complex sites
      • Complying with chemical data reporting
      • Risk Assessment and Toxicology Update On TSCA Reform
      • Court upholds emission monitoring for oil and gas
      • California Organics Diversion Regulatory Update
      • California children affected by lead poisoning
      • Change Notification to ISO 14001:2015
      • Task force recommendations for expedited site cleanup
      • Proposed Revisions to Site Remediation MACT
      • New Ontario online registry for environmental permits
      • Federal guidance released for human health risk assessments
      • Revised UST regulations
      • Lead levels updated for remediation
      • Remediation guidance for adaptive site management
      • USEPA intends to expand the Risk Management Program
      • New toxicity values for EPA screening calculator
      • TSCA Reform is on its way to become a law
      • New Strategy for Waste-Free Ontario
      • Final ruling issued on exposure to Crystalline Silica
      • Fill and Excess Soil Regulatory Update
      • EPA 2017 Stormwater Construction General Permit
      • Future of Western Sydney
      • USEPA Vapor Intrusion Technical Guide
      • Hazard awareness training for demolition services
      • Big Data
      • Digital Technologies
      • Digital Disruption
      • Canada hosts international forum on public private partnerships
      • Public private partnership forum examines lessons for transit
      • New Strategy for Waste-Free Ontario
      • Hazard awareness training for demolition services
      • Complying with chemical data reporting
      • Fill and Excess Soil Regulatory Update
      • Project Management for Large Transport Projects
      • Public private partnership forum examines lessons for transit
      • Canada hosts international forum on public private partnerships
      • Transforming perspectives on complex sites
      • Risk Assessment and Toxicology Update On TSCA Reform
      • Critical insights from P3 2017 in Toronto, Canada
      • Pioneering New Energy Systems
      • Solving the PFAS puzzle
      • How major rail is keeping pace
    • News
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      Toggle Section
      • Committed to communities
  • Annual Review
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  • Health, Safety and Environment
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    Toggle Section
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  • Integrity Management
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The United States (US) Congress and Senate recently took a major step to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), 15 U.S.C. §2601 of 1976. After the successful Senate vote on December 17, 2015, the reconciled version of the Senate bill passed the House with Amendments on May 24, 2016, and then the Senate on June 7, 2016. It is expected to be signed by President Barack Obama within days. The current version of the bill can be found online at https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2576/text.

The TSCA Modernization Act (Act) is a major legislation that imposes reporting, recordkeeping, testing, import/export, and safety evaluation of chemical substances and/or mixtures. Title I Sections 1 through 20 of the amended bill contain multiple redactions on various fundamental issues, ranging from conducting risk-based assessments on toxic chemicals to securing funding for the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to administer the new law. Some of the more notable aspects of the final version include the following:

  • Establishment of risk-based process. The bill, by rule, requires "the establishment of a risk-based screening process, including criteria for designating chemical substances as high-priority substances for risk evaluations or low-priority substances for which risk evaluations are not warranted at the time. The process to designate the priority of chemical substances shall include a consideration of the hazard and exposure potential of a chemical substance or a category of chemical substances (including consideration of persistence and bioaccumulation, potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations and storage near significant sources of drinking water), the conditions of use or significant changes in the conditions of use of the chemical substance, and the volume or significant changes in the volume of the chemical substance manufactured or processed."
  • Consideration of sensitive subpopulations. The reformed Act introduces and defines for the first time a risk assessment concept of "potentially exposed subpopulation," which is defined as "a group of individuals within the general population identified by the Administrator who, due to either greater susceptibility or greater exposure, may be at greater risk than the general population of adverse health effects from exposure to a chemical substance or mixture, such as infants, children, pregnant women, workers, or the elderly."
  • Development of new information. USEPA will "...require the development of new information for the purposes of prioritizing a chemical substance under section 6 (b) only if is necessary to establish the priority of the substance..." This information may be developed by the manufacturer or processor of a chemical substance under review.
  • Reduced animal testing. Testing on animals, especially on vertebrates, will be reduced and/or eliminated in favor of development and implementation of alternate test methods, such as computational toxicology, bioinformatics, high-throughput screening, in-vitro testing, systems biology, and other approaches recognized by national and international agencies.
  • Tiered testing. When requiring the development of new information, USEPA will employ a tiered screening and testing process, under which the results of screening-level tests or assessments of available information inform the decision as to whether additional tests are needed.
  • Formation of industry consortia. The bill specifies the option of forming industry consortia to jointly conduct testing to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, provided that the test results are made available to USEPA.
  • No consideration of costs in risk determination. USEPA, in making the chemical risk determination whether the significant new use presents an unreasonable/risk of injury to health or the environment, shall not take into consideration financial costs, societal, or other non-risk factors.
  • Consultation with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). When worker exposure is of concern, USEPA will consult with OSHA prior to adopting any prohibition or other restriction relating to a chemical substance.
  • Number of risk assessments per year. Initially, USEPA will initiate risk assessment for 10 chemical substances per year, drawn from the 2014 TSCA Work Plan for Chemical Assessments, gradually increasing (over 3.5 years) to 20 per year on high-priority substances. USEPA will have up to 3 years to complete each risk assessment.
  • Risk assessment requests. A manufacturer may request that a particular substance undergo a risk assessment by USEPA, with priority given to substances for which the restrictions imposed by one or more states have the potential to have a significant impact on interstate commerce or health or the environment.
  • Data disclosure. New disclosure requirements have been added to enhance access to chemical information by officials, scientists, federal/state emergency responders, and health practitioners. Moreover, the reformed Act specifically names the requirement for disclosure of "formulas, including molecular structures." However, confidentiality can be claimed and maintained for certain chemicals for up to 10 years, with the option to renew.
  • Non-compliance penalties. Monetary fines for noncompliance have been increased; some were raised to a high of $1 million per organization, plus criminal penalties of up to $250,000 per individual and/or imprisonment for up to 15 years, should there be instances of imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury.
  • State pre-emption. Under the new bill, the states have largely been preempted from developing their own TSCA-like risk assessments and legislation independent of the bill.
  • Science advisory committee on chemicals. The bill indicates that USEPA shall establish a Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals, composed of representatives from science, government, labor, public health, public interest, animal protection, industry, and other groups relevant to determining chemical safety.

How can GHD help?

In summary, the nearly 200-page reformed TSCA bill contains a number of new requirements that while improving the understanding of risks and chemical safety in the United States, will undoubtedly add to the compliance burden on the regulated community.

For more information, please contact Andrew Pawlisz | E: andrew.pawlisz@ghd.com | T: +1 972 679 7872.

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