The Environmental Protection Agency is setting new significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 27 chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs), in a direct final rule. As a result of the SNURs, persons planning to manufacture, import or process any of the chemicals for an activity that is designated as a significant new use by this rule are required to notify EPA at least 90 days in advance. The final rule takes effect Oct. 16. EPA also issued a proposed rule on the new SNURs that it will consider if any adverse comments on the direct final rule are received by Sept. 17.

The Environmental Protection Agency is setting new significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 145 chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs), in a direct final rule. As a result of the SNURs, persons planning to manufacture, import or process any of the chemicals for an activity that is designated as a significant new use by this rule are required to notify EPA at least 90 days in advance. The final rule takes effect Oct. 1. EPA also issued a proposed rule on the new SNURs that it will consider if any adverse comments on the direct final rule are received by Aug. 31.

The Environmental Protection Agency is set to create a new system of unique identifiers for Toxic Substances Control Act chemical substances for which a request for confidentiality has been granted, it said in a notice. The unique identifiers (UID) will take the format UID-YEAR-XXXXXX, where year represents the year a confidentiality claim was asserted and XXXXXX is the number assigned to the UID. The identifier will appear everywhere the confidential chemical is referenced in EPA documents, except for when putting that number in a non-confidential document would enable the public to identify the chemical. EPA anticipates creating its first annual list of unique identifiers in November 2018.

The Environmental Protection Agency is setting new reporting requirements that would apply to importers and exporters of mercury, mercury compounds and products containing mercury. Under the final rule, persons who import or manufacture mercury or mercury-added products, intentionally use mercury in a manufacturing process, distribute mercury or mercury-added products in commerce, store mercury after manufacture or import, or export mercury or mercury-added products would be required to electronically report every three years the amount of mercury they handle and certain use-specific information, such as the country of origin of their imports.

The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking comment on the list of the first 10 chemicals set for risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act reform legislation (see 1706260025), the agency said in a notice. "The 10 problem formulation documents announced in this document
refine the scope documents published in June 2017 and are an additional interim step, prior to
publication of the draft risk evaluations," it said. Comments are due July 26.

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new reporting requirements for asbestos under a significant new use rule (SNUR), the agency said in a notice. The proposed SNUR would require notification to EPA at least 90 days in advance from importers, manufacturers or processors that intend to use asbestos. It would apply to "adhesives, sealants, and roof and non-roof coatings; arc chutes; beater-add gaskets; extruded sealant tape and other tape; filler for acetylene cylinders; high-grade electrical paper; millboard; missile liner; pipeline wrap; reinforced plastics; roofing felt; separators in fuel cells and batteries; vinyl-asbestos floor tile; and any other building material (other than cement)." Comments on the proposed SNUR are due Aug. 10.

The Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public meeting June 28 at EPA headquarters in Washington to discuss technical issues related to its new formaldehyde standards for composite wood products. “The meeting will inform EPA’s potential development of a proposed rule to address these technical issues and to further align the rule requirements with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Airborne Toxic Control Measures (ATCM) Phase II program,” the agency said. The technical issues “surround the testing and certification of composite wood products under the final rule, including correlation of test methods, equivalence of test methods, treatment of test data, and sampling requirements under EPA’s final rule,” it said. Though intended for panel producers and third-party certifiers, “fabricators, distributors and retailers who are affected by the Formaldehyde Emission Standards for Composite Wood Products final rule may also be interested in this meeting,” EPA said. A federal court recently established new compliance dates for the regulations, issued in 2016, with new emissions standards, record-keeping and labeling provisions set to take effect June 1, and import certification requirements in March 2019 (see 1803140035).

The Environmental Protection Agency is extending until May 24 the period for comments on proposed new user fees for activities it conducts under Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act. Under the February proposed rule (see 1802230022), the user fees, which reach from about $1,000 to into the millions of dollars, would begin on Oct. 1, 2018. Authorized by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the user fees will allow EPA to “defray some of the costs of administering certain TSCA requirements,” it said. The proposed fees would apply to manufacturers, including importers, that are required to submit information by a test rule, test order or enforceable consent agreement under TSCA Section 4; that submit notification or information related to intent to manufacture a new chemical or significant new use of a chemical under TSCA Section 5; or that manufacture a chemical substance subject to a risk evaluation, including at the request of a manufacturer or importer, under TSCA Section 6(b). Lower fees would apply for small businesses. EPA also said it has completed additional analysis on small business size definitions.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently published a list of Toxic Substances Control Act chemicals reported as active or inactive for the purposes of upcoming notification requirements for manufacturers and importers. Products listed as inactive in the eventual final version of this list will require a submission to EPA at least 30 days prior to importation or manufacture beginning in 2019.

The Environmental Protection Agency is setting exemptions from pesticide tolerances for residues of certain chemicals when put to specific uses, it said in a final rule. The exemptions apply to N,N-dimethyl 9-decenamide (CAS Reg No. 1356964-77-6); N,N-dimethyldodecanamide (CAS Reg No. 3007-53-2); and N,Ndimethyltetradecanamide (CAS Reg No. 3015-65-4). These chemicals are exempt from pesticide tolerances when “used as inert ingredients (surfactant, solvent) on growing crops and raw agricultural commodities after harvest, with a limitation that the concentration of the inert ingredient is at a concentration not to exceed 20% by weight in a pesticide formulation,” EPA said. The final rule takes effect March 30.