Shutdown Stalemate: How EPA's Pause Could Reshape Chemical Regulatory Timelines

As the federal government endures another prolonged shutdown, uncertainty is rippling through every agency, with the impact clearly visible at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With only a fraction of staff on duty and most routine operations halted, the chemical and pesticide regulatory landscape faces a new round of challenges in both the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) and the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP).

EPA's September 29, 2025, contingency plan officially took effect at the start of the shutdown. The shutdown has affected 89 percent of the Agency's employees, with only those 1,734 employees deemed "essential" to protect life, property, or national security retained. That means most rulemaking, permitting, and scientific work has ground to a halt. Exceptions include:

• Emergency response and environmental monitoring tied to imminent threats;
• Superfund cleanups that, if paused, would endanger public health;
• Information Technology (IT) and facility security; and
• Select projects funded by unexpired or fee-based appropriations, such as the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5) pesticide reviews, Superfund Tax-funded activities, and certain Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) or Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) initiatives.

For companies that rely on predictable regulatory timelines, these exceptions matter — but they also highlight how uneven the shutdown's impact will be.

EPA's ongoing implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is among the most directly affected programs. Progress on most risk evaluations and prioritization activities — which require cross-office collaboration and public engagement — are effectively paused. This includes work on preparing in final draft risk evaluations and internal review of the Agency's proposed TSCA "framework rule" update, released shortly before the shutdown.

The New Chemicals Program is also expected to slow significantly. While the Agency may process a limited number of submissions, most premanufacture notices (PMN), significant new use notices (SNUN), and microbial commercial activity notices (MCAN) will remain in queue until operations resume. Applicants should anticipate extended review periods and potential post-shutdown backlogs.

The pesticide program is also affected, although some work is continuing from funds available from the fee-schedule for pesticide submissions (required fees collected by PRIA 5). The PRIA 5 funds allow staff working on those submissions to continue even after any "carryover" funds, from earlier appropriations, have been exhausted. The carryover funds were available to support Agency work for the first days of the shutdown; OPP staff working on submissions are allowed to meet with submitters, but meetings about "policy" matters are subject to the shutdown. As residual funds are depleted, EPA has signaled its intent to reduce its workforce by issuing notices of Reduction in Force (RIF) to approximately 20 to 30 employees in its waste office. RIF notices generally take about 60 days to execute, although the Administration has previously discussed the idea of invoking an exemption that would allow them to fire employees within 30 days for separate RIF plans. It is likely that such actions will be met with legal challenges.

Other impacts across EPA likely will include:

• PFAS and Fees Rules: Ongoing rulemakings — such as the final per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reporting rule, the PFAS maximum contaminant level (MCL) implementation guidance, and the TSCA fees rule — are likely to face delays in clearance and publication.
• Enforcement and Inspections: Routine inspections are paused, though emergency enforcement actions may proceed. Regulated entities can expect a surge of inspection activity once normal operations resume.
• Permitting and State Coordination: State and Tribal programs that rely on EPA approval (e.g., air quality State Implementation Plans (SIP), water total maximum daily loads (TMDL), delegated hazardous waste permits) could experience cascading delays if federal staff are unavailable to review submissions.

Pesticide companies, chemical manufacturers, processors, and importers should prepare for delays, deferrals, and shifting compliance milestones. Companies awaiting new chemical determinations or rulemakings tied to market access should build additional lead-time into internal planning. Practical steps to take include:

1. Planning for slippage. Add flexibility to internal project timelines, especially where EPA sign-off is a gating step.

2. Using downtime strategically. Refine new chemical submissions, test plans, and exposure assessments now — so materials are ready when reviews restart.

3. Monitoring program-specific updates. Fee-funded programs like PRIA 5 may keep moving, even as TSCA work stalls.

4. Expecting an uneven restart. When the shutdown ends, EPA will triage its workload, prioritizing public-health and statutory-deadline matters before lower-risk filings.

However long this shutdown lasts, its effects will linger. EPA faces significant challenges with staffing shortages even in normal times. A multi-week pause could cascade into months of delayed decisions, postponed rulemakings, and additional strain on overextended staff in both OPPT and OPP.Deadlines for program actions may likely be delayed by more than a simple "one for one" delay — a one month shutdown may set back program deliverables by a much longer timeframe, as has been the case in past shutdowns.

For regulated entities, the key is transparency and preparation: stay in communication with EPA contacts where possible, document outreach attempts, and maintain flexibility on compliance planning. Whether Congress resolves the funding impasse in days or weeks, the pesticide and chemical sectors should brace for another reminder of just how deeply dependent regulatory predictability is on government continuity.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.