Action Required: Inactive Substances on the Toxic Substances Control Act Inventory

What’s Happening?

 Starting August 5, 2019, manufacturers, importers and processors are required to notify USEPA before re-introducing into commerce a substance currently designated as inactive on the TSCA Inventory.  Interested parties can notify EPA via a Notice of Activity Form B, found in USEPA's Central Data Exchange (CDX).  Upon receiving such notification, EPA will change the designation of substances from inactive to active.

Now that the TSCA Inventory has been “reset”, any substances flagged as “inactive” need to be converted to “active” prior to any non-exempt commercial activity.  The Form B Notice may be submitted as late as the day before the intended activity, but may not be submitted any earlier than 90 days before the “anticipated” date of manufacture, import or processing.

How Could it Impact Me?

If you have not yet reviewed the active TSCA status of all substances you manufacture, import or use it is critical to do it now.  If you do not know the specific chemical identity of a substance because the information is claimed confidential by the supplier, you have two options:

• Obtain physical evidence from the supplier that it has been reported by obtaining a copy of their Notice of Activity Form A Central Data Exchange (CDX) receipt, or certification that the substance is exempt from Active/Inactive reporting requirements, or
• If the substance is listed on the confidential Inventory, and you know or can obtain the accession number or generic name of the substance from the vendor you may notify via Form B using that information.

If neither is available you must ask the supplier to provide the chemical identity information directly to EPA in a joint Form B CDX submission.

Bottom Line:

Manufacture, import or processing of a substance that is flagged as “inactive” on the TSC A Inventory is equivalent to use of a non-TSCA listed substance.  TSCA authorizes USEPA to seek criminal penalties against any person who "knowingly or willfully" violates any provision of TSCA with fines of up to $50,000 for each day the violation continues and/or imprisonment for up to one year.

Contact Us:

knoell USA, LLC  will continue to follow TSCA developments and can provide your company with periodic TSCA updates to assist you in addressing  future regulatory requirements.  knoell USA can also provide representatives of your company with a free consultation to talk through the ongoing issues and how they could affect your business.