Monday, January 25, 2010

Changes To TSCA Confidential Business Information CBI Policy

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has enacted a new policy to regarding chemical reporting requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Starting today, EPA has announced its intention to reject a certain type of confidentiality claim, known as Confidential Business Information (CBI), on the identity of chemicals. The chemicals that will be affected by this action are those that are submitted to EPA with studies that show a substantial risk to people's health and the environment and have been previously disclosed on the TSCA Chemical Inventory.

Under TSCA, companies may claim a range of sensitive, proprietary information as CBI. Under Section 8(e) of TSCA, companies that manufacture, process, or distribute chemicals are required to immediately provide notice to EPA if they learn that a chemical presents a substantial risk of injury to health or the environment. The Section 8(e) reports are made available on EPA’s Web site. In the past, companies could claim confidentiality for the actual identity of the chemical covered by the Section 8(e) submission, so the public posting of the information would not include the name of the chemical. The new policy ends this practice for chemicals on the public portion of the TSCA Inventory.


Caltha LLP provides specialized expertise to clients nationwide in the TSCA compliance and reporting, developing EH&S compliance procedures, and preparing cost-effective EH&S management programs.

For further information contact Caltha LLP at
info@calthacompany.com
or
Caltha LLP Website


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