On Feb. 26, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule for new chemical user fees under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The agency is proposing to set user fees applicable to anybody required to submit information to EPA under the TSCA. TSCA requires companies that manufacture (including import), distribute in commerce, or process a chemical substance (or any combination of such activities) to submit information to EPA under TSCA sections 4 or 5, and under TSCA section 6(b) if they manufacture a chemical substance that is the subject of a risk evaluation under TSCA.
EPA is accepting comments on the proposal until April 27, 2018. ACA will be submitting comment.
EPA's proposed rulemaking provides a description of proposed TSCA fees and fee categories for fiscal years 2019, 2020, and 2021, and explains the methodology by which the proposed TSCA user fees were determined and would be determined for subsequent fiscal years. EPA's proposed fees range from $4,700 to $2.6 million, depending on the specific task and the amount of time and effort involved. Notably, there are reportedly more than 28,000 chemicals active in commerce.
EPA has also proposed amending longstanding user fee regulations governing the review of premanufacture notices (PMN's), exemption applications and notices, and significant new use notices (SNUN's). After implementation of final TSCA user fees regulations, certain manufacturers and processors would be required to pay a prescribed fee for each notice, exemption application and data set submitted or chemical substance subject to a risk evaluation for EPA to recover certain costs associated with carrying out certain work under TSCA. With this action, EPA is also proposing standards for determining which bodies qualify as small business concerns and thus would be subject to lower fee payments. Companies can also agree to pay fees collectively instead of individually, when appropriate, for example, to cover the cost of a risk evaluation or a joint PMN filing.
Details of EPA's proposed fee structure, listed by activity, are highlighted in the following table at: