On September 28, 2023, EPA released a long-anticipated final rule aimed at gathering information on products in commerce that contain PFAS chemicals.  As defined in the regulation, the term “PFAS” includes a group of materials known as fluoropolymers, which are widely used in gaskets, tubing, electrical wiring, composite materials, printed circuit boards, membranes and many other manufactured articles.  Under EPA’s new regulation, any company that has imported any of these types of articles containing fluoropolymers (or any other PFAS chemical) at any time since 2011 will be required to submit extensive information to EPA regarding those products and activities.  The pre-publication version of the final rule can be found here.Continue Reading Importers of Equipment, Machinery and Electronics Beware: You’re Probably Subject to EPA’s New PFAS Regulation

Retailers need to prepare for a major shift in chemical regulation policy recently announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that could affect a broad range of products currently being sold in the US. Under this sweeping new policy, EPA plans to address chemical risks by directly regulating articles that are manufactured with those chemicals. Crowell environmental attorneys, Warren Lehrenbaum and Jennifer Giblin, addressed this and other important developments at EPA in a wide-ranging question and answer session with the Retail Industry Leaders Association on Tuesday, October 5, 2021.
Continue Reading EPA’s Shift In Chemical and Hazardous Materials Regulation and What Retailers Can Expect

By email dated December 14, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdrew its controversial direct final rule requiring the reporting of existing and unpublished health and safety data for cadmium and cadmium compounds used in consumer products pursuant to section 8(d) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In its email, EPA admitted that "there is significant confusion and uncertainty within certain industrial sectors concerning the rule." EPA went on to indicate that it "will withdraw the immediate final rule and will sign a Federal Register notice announcing this decision no later than the January 2, 2013, effective date of the immediate final." EPA will be considering the questions and concerns raised in response to the immediate final rule and next steps with regard to this rule. Continue Reading EPA Reverses Course and Promises to Withdraw TSCA Section 8(d) Cadmium Rule