EPA Returns Chemical Company to Compliance with Toxic Substances Control Act
Action Ensures Transparency Regarding Potentially Harmful Chemicals in Commerce
SAN FRANCISCO (June 4, 2026) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a settlement with an international agribusiness company for claims of violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) at its facilities in California and Washington. Wilbur-Ellis Company agreed to pay a penalty of $630,737 for failing to properly report chemical production. As a result of EPA’s action, the company returned to compliance with federal chemical production reporting requirements.
“Companies that produce chemicals must accurately report them in order to protect the public from possible chemical exposures carrying unknown risks,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Director Amy Miller. “EPA’s action brought the company back into compliance, better protecting facility workers, nearby communities, and the public.”
Wilbur-Ellis, which distributes and markets agricultural products, animal nutrients, and specialty chemicals, manufactures chemicals at several locations in California and in Washington.
EPA claims Wilbur-Ellis violated TSCA in the following ways:
- Manufacturing a new, unreported chemical substance on at least 29 different occasions at their California facilities located in Willows, San Joaquin, and Rio Linda and their facility in Pomeroy, Washington, and failing to submit a notice of its intent to manufacture that chemical
- Processing a separate chemical on at least one occasion, after EPA designated it as an “inactive substance,” and failing to submit a notice of processing for that chemical
- Producing more than 25,000 pounds of three additional chemical substances at its San Joaquin and Rio Linda facilities, and failing to submit required quadrennial chemical production data for these chemicals, a filing essential to EPA’s ability to screen, assess, and manage chemical risks
To return to compliance under federal law, the company submitted the relevant premanufacture notice and revised chemical data reporting.
Background
Under TSCA, manufacturers intending to produce a new chemical must submit a premanufacture notice, so that EPA can review if the substance presents an unreasonable risk to human health and the environment. In addition, all manufacturers are required to notify EPA before reintroducing substances that have been unreported, or “inactive,” in American commerce since 2006, ensuring EPA can monitor and maintain an accurate list of chemicals in production and use. Chemical importers and manufacturers are required to submit chemical data reporting information to EPA every four years. EPA makes the non-confidential business chemical information it receives available to the public.
More information:
TSCA Chemical Data Reporting Rule
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