On August 4, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a proposed rule entitled “Further Reconsideration of Procedures for Chemical Risk Evaluation Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).” As reported in our March 14, 2025, memorandum, on March 10, 2025, EPA announced its intent to reconsider the May 2024 rule amending the procedural framework rule for conducting TSCA risk evaluations. According to EPA's March 10, 2025, press release, consistent with President Trump's Executive Order 14219 requiring the review of regulations to ensure consistency with Administration policy and agencies' statutory authority, EPA reviewed the 2024 final rule. After completing its review and considering public comments and concerns, including those from other federal agencies, EPA intended to review whether the approach taken by the Biden Administration to make a single risk determination for a chemical is consistent with TSCA, whether the Agency must evaluate all conditions of use (COU) of a chemical at the same time in the three years generally allotted by Congress to conduct this review, and whether and how the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and industrial controls in an occupational work environment should be incorporated into risk evaluations. According to EPA, it will reconsider regulatory definitions expanded by the Biden Administration and evaluate whether the regulation should define terms more broadly than the definitions in the statute. More information on the 2024 risk evaluation framework rule is available in our May 14, 2024, memorandum. The draft proposed rule submitted to OMB is not publicly available.
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