EPA Revises Guidelines for Making Corrections to the TSCA Inventory
(WASHINGTON, February 24, 2022) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is phasing out its July 1980 process for requesting corrections to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory. Starting on April 26, 2022, companies may need to submit a premanufacture notice (PMN) or exemption notice in order to request a change to the specific chemical identity of a substance listed on the Inventory.
The TSCA Inventory is a list of all existing chemicals manufactured, processed, or imported in the U.S. The Inventory was originally published in 1979, based on reporting from companies, then was later revised and published again in 1980.
Following the original TSCA Inventory reporting period, EPA recognized that a considerable number of chemicals reported for inclusion on the initial Inventory could unintentionally have been described incorrectly by persons reporting them. Although not required to do so under TSCA, EPA drafted and published guidelines in July 1980 on how to request corrections of incorrectly reported chemical substances. However, the guidelines did not include a time period during which requests for corrections to the Inventory could be submitted.
EPA will be discontinuing processing Inventory corrections, withdrawing its 1980 Inventory Correction guidelines, and phasing out the accompanying procedures by which companies that reported an incorrectly identified chemical on an original Inventory reporting form may request a correction of that Inventory listing. It was never EPA’s intent to establish a correction mechanism that would be open-ended in time, lasting for decades. Further, companies have had numerous opportunities over more than 40 years since the 1980 publication of the revised TSCA Inventory to make these corrections.
Additionally, when TSCA was enacted in 1976, it exempted the thousands of chemicals in commerce at the time from going through the new chemicals assessment process (i.e., these chemicals were grandfathered by TSCA). During the decades EPA has implemented the inventory correction guidelines, it has become increasingly evident to the Agency that the Inventory correction request process may be used improperly by entities attempting to avoid submission of a PMN or exemption notice to add what is actually a new chemical substance to the inventory, rather than simply correcting the chemical identity of a substance included on the original Inventory.
The phase-out period for correction requests ends on April 26, 2022. During the phase-out period EPA will continue to accept correction requests that are complete and meet the correction guidelines published in 1980. Correction requests that are incomplete or that are ineligible according to the guidelines will be rejected by EPA.
If after April 26, 2022, a company discovers for any reason a change in the specific chemical identity of a chemical substance reported on an original Inventory reporting form, a PMN or exemption notice may need to be filed if the chemical substance is not already listed on the TSCA Inventory.
This action does not impact EPA’s authority for initiating, at its discretion, corrections to the Inventory should the agency determine on its own that, for example, a chemical substance listed on the Inventory has been unintentionally misidentified. In this situation EPA will, at its discretion, request and accept documentation from a company to support an Inventory correction in lieu of requiring a PMN or exemption notice. This action also does not impact EPA’s regular maintenance of the Inventory that can include nomenclature updates and correcting minor errors to listings.
For more information, visit the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory page.