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EPA Releases Proposal to Revise Chemical Reviews under TSCA

September 29, 2025
The EPA released a proposed rule to revise the process for conducting risk evaluations for chemicals already in commerce under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
 
The proposed rule includes the following proposed amendments that address targeted changes to EPA’s process for conducting TSCA risk evaluations made in the 2024 regulation titled Procedures for Chemical Risk Evaluation under TSCA (2024 Risk Evaluation Framework Rule):
  • A requirement for EPA to make a determination of unreasonable risk for each of the conditions of use within the scope of the chemical’s risk evaluation as dictated by Congress in TSCA, as amended by the Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, instead of a single risk determination on the chemical substance as a whole.
  • Clarifications as to how EPA will consider occupational exposure controls such as personal protective equipment and industrial controls when conducting risk evaluations and making risk determinations.
  • Clarifications regarding EPA’s discretionary authority to determine which conditions of use, exposure routes, and exposure pathways it will consider in a risk evaluation.
  • Revisions to certain regulatory definitions to ensure consistency with Executive Order 14303 Restoring Gold Standard Science and to ensure transparency and accountability in conducting risk evaluations.
  • Revisions to the procedures and requirements EPA would follow when revising or supplementing risk evaluation documents to better enable EPA to meet the statutory deadlines to assess and manage risk.
  • Adjustments to the process and information collection obligations for manufacturers (including importers) for requesting an agency-conducted TSCA risk evaluation.
 
Upon publication of the Federal Register notice, EPA will accept comments on the rule for 45 days in docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2025-0260. 
 
Please visit the pre-publication version of the Risk Evaluations for Existing Chemicals under TSCA for more information.
 
Florida Roofing Contractor Cited After Worker Falls Through Residential Skylight
 
Following two federal safety inspections, the U.S. Department of Labor has cited a Jacksonville roofing contractor with 10 safety violations for willfully exposing workers to fall hazards by not requiring them to wear fall protection while working at least six feet above a lower level, leading to over $700,000 in proposed penalties.
 
"At the Department of Labor, we are committed to doing everything in our power to put the American worker and their safety first," said Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. "These citations are a stark reminder that workplace safety is non-negotiable, and we will carry out our duty to hold employers accountable when they put lives at risk."
 
"No one should walk into work worrying that they might not come home at the end of the day," said Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling. "Our workers are the backbone of this country, and we strive every day to ensure they never pay the ultimate price for a paycheck."
 
On March 18, 2025, OSHA initiated an investigation at an Elo Restoration, LLC Jacksonville worksite – operating as Elo Roofing. Two weeks later, OSHA initiated a separate investigation at an Elo Roofing site in St. Johns after learning a worker sustained injuries and required hospitalization after falling through a residential roof while removing skylight fixtures.
 
The agency determined the worksite did not install guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest systems, and employees were not provided with alternative fall protection measures.
 
Elo Restoration LLC was cited with four willful, three repeat, a serious, and two other-than-serious citations, totaling $752,846 in proposed penalties.
 
EPA Finalizes Action to Strengthen Water Quality in the Delaware River
 
The EPA announced a final rule establishing federal water quality standards for 38 miles of the Delaware River between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware. This final rule will improve water quality and support locally and regionally significant fish populations—including Striped Bass, American Shad, and endangered Atlantic Sturgeon and Shortnose Sturgeon—to benefit Americans who commercially or recreationally fish the Delaware River and Delaware Bay.
 
Several commercially and recreationally important fish species live and spawn in the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. Ensuring that these oxygen-sensitive fish have adequate water quality to support their reproduction and growth will protect and increase their populations. In turn, a more productive fishery will bolster commercial and recreational fishing and associated industries, supporting job growth and ecotourism.
 
This final rule will help protect sensitive aquatic species in the Delaware River, including the federally endangered Atlantic Sturgeon and Shortnose Sturgeon. In these federal water quality standards, EPA has established aquatic life protection and propagation as an achievable “designated use” with corresponding dissolved oxygen water quality criteria to protect this use in the Delaware River.
 
“EPA’s final water quality standards will provide a significant ecological boost to this section of the Delaware River,” said Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) Executive Director Kristen Bowman Kavanagh, P.E. “The DRBC will continue delivering scientific and modeling expertise to EPA, our member states, and stakeholders to aid in implementing the new rule and improving dissolved oxygen in our shared Delaware River.”
 
EPA’s rule better aligns water quality standards in this urbanized portion of the Delaware River with Clean Water Act standards that already exist upstream and downstream to support more cohesive water quality management. Consistent with the tenet of cooperative federalism, the rule does not preclude the Delaware River Basin Commission or the states from revising their aquatic life designated uses or dissolved oxygen criteria in the future.
 
Learn more about EPA’s final rule.
 
14 ICAO Member States Recognized for Significant Progress in Aviation Safety and Security
 
The opening ceremony included a celebration of the significant progress of 14 States towards the achievement of zero fatalities in international aviation.
 
The award acknowledges a state’s progress in establishing an effective aviation safety or security oversight system and their continued commitment to implementing ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices.  ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano awarded certificates for safety improvements to Albania, Azerbaijan, Botswana, India, Morocco, Oman, and Senegal.
 
Meanwhile, Angola, Bahrain, Cameroon, Indonesia, Kuwait, Moldova, and Togo, were also recognized by the President with certificates for their progress in aviation security.
 
Pipeline Company to Pay Penalty, Continue Cleanup from Gasoline Spill in California
 
The EPA announced a settlement with pipeline company SFPP, L.P. to resolve claims of Clean Water Act violations after the company's pipeline discharged over 40,000 gallons of gasoline into the environment in Walnut Creek, California. Under the agreement, SFPP will pay a penalty of $213,560.
 
“Pipeline operators must be held accountable when they discharge gasoline into our environment,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Region Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Director Amy Miller. “This enforcement action sends a clear message: companies must properly operate and maintain their pipelines to prevent spills. EPA takes seriously the responsibility to protect our waters and communities from petroleum discharges.”
 
In the settlement, EPA claims that SFPP discharged gasoline in such quantities as may be harmful. Under federal law, petroleum transporters must operate and maintain pipelines to ensure spills do not happen and, if they do occur, are immediately contained and do not pose a threat to the environment. SFPP is conducting ongoing cleanup work in coordination with the Regional Water Quality Control Board to address environmental impacts from the spill.
 
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