On October 17, 2024, the NAM filed an amicus brief urging the D.C. Circuit to vacate EPA’s flawed rule for conducting risk evaluations of chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The rule—which was challenged by a union and several industry groups—requires EPA to take a “whole chemical” approach to risk evaluation under which EPA makes a single risk determination for all conditions of use of a chemical. This approach potentially subjects all uses of a chemical to regulation, even if all but one of the chemical’s uses poses no risk. The rule also requires EPA to assume that workers do not use personal protective equipment when dealing with chemical substances in manufacturing.
We argue in our brief that EPA’s “whole chemical” approach is contrary to both the text of TSCA and the case-by-case approach to risk determinations endorsed by EPA for decades. The new rule will lead to complex risk revaluations that cannot be completed within statutory deadlines. We further argue that EPA’s PPE presumption is inconsistent with industry practice and ignores existing legal requirements.