Regulatory Updates – ACMA Insider – September 7, 2023

EPA Readies List of Next Chemicals for Review by TSCA Program; Agency Officials will Tour Composites Plant EPA has reportedly begun …


EPA Readies List of Next Chemicals for Review by TSCA Program; Agency Officials will Tour Composites Plant

EPA has reportedly begun selection of 5-6 chemicals for risk evaluation and issuance of regulations that can ban or significantly restrict use of substances to avoid what the agency considers to be unreasonable risk, a process that was established by Congress when it amended the Toxic Substances Control Act in 2016.

Styrene is one of approximately 50 substances that could be under consideration by EPA for initiation of TSCA risk evaluation in 2024. Officials with EPA’s TSCA program will participate in a September 13 tour of ACMA member Composites USA, arranged by ACMA to educate the agency about the use of styrene in composites manufacturing and the challenges our industry faces when trying to reduce workplace and community exposures. 

For more information, contact John Schweitzer.

ACMA’s John Schweitzer Testifies at EPA Hearing

EPA’s proposed revisions to the agency’s Air Emission Reporting Requirements are unlikely to collect all the information needed to accurately predict ground level pollutant concentrations near composites manufacturing operations and, as a result, community members could be misinformed about potential health risks. This was the message delivered by John Schweitzer, ACMA’s vice president for EH&S and sustainability, at an August 30 EPA hearing.

Schweitzer suggested that before promulgating burdensome reporting requirements for smaller manufacturers, EPA should validate its proposed approach for modeling community exposures based on information provided by companies using an online survey, as the agency proposes. 

For more information, please reach out to John Schweitzer.