Explaining EPA’s Fees Process for New TSCA Risk Evaluations
In late December, EPA designated the next 20 substances to
undergo TSCA risk evaluations. This
prioritization action triggered the three and a half years timeframe in which
EPA must complete the TSCA risk evaluations of these substances. It also began
the TSCA process for assigning responsibility for fees to help defray the cost
of each risk evaluation of the 20 substances.
Who is responsible
for paying the fees?
A $1.35 million fee for each EPA-initiated risk evaluation will
be divided among companies that have manufactured or imported the chemical in
any volume in the past five years, including companies that have imported
articles containing those chemicals. As of today, EPA has not identified any
exemptions or exclusions from these fees for byproducts, impurities, or other small
amounts. However, EPA may exclude one or more of these categories in the
scoping documents issued on each of the risk evaluations due in June 2020.
EPA released
its preliminary lists of manufacturers and importers of these 20
substances, on Monday, January 27, 2020, and companies now have until March 27,
2020, to self-identify as a manufacturer or importer of these substances, regardless of whether or not they were included in the preliminary
lists.
Failure to self-identify or falsely certifying that a
company is not a manufacturer or importer could lead to TSCA-sanctioned penalty
fees beginning from the date the final list is published, with each day of
non-compliance constituting a separate violation after the March 27 reporting
deadline.
EPA is providing a 60-day comment period for manufacturers
(including importers) and the public to submit comments, correct errors,
self-identify, or “certify-out” as a responsible party for fees because it is
no longer a manufacturer or importer according to EPA’s rule, described more
fully below.
Self-Identification Reporting
to EPA
All reporting to EPA required under the fees rule must be
done through the EPA’s Central Data Exchange
(CDX) by March 27, 2020. The self-identification
reports must contain the following information:
- Name and address
of the submitting company; - Name and address
of authorized official for the submitting company; and - Name and phone
number of the technical contact for the submitting company who will be able to
answer questions about the information submitted by the company to EPA.
Certify Out
Companies included on the preliminary lists also have an
opportunity to certify through CDX that they are not responsible for the fee
if:
- They have
already ceased manufacturing (including importing) prior to March 20, 2019, and
will not manufacture or import the substance for five years; or - They have not
manufactured the chemical substance in the five-year period preceding
publication of the preliminary lists.
Manufacturers and importers may also certify whether they
meet the definition
of a “small business concern” as defined in the fees rule and qualify for a
reduced fee.
Final List of
Responsible Parties
EPA anticipates publishing the final list of manufacturers
and importers responsible for these fees concurrent with the publication of the
final scope document for each risk evaluation in June 2020.
Payment of Fees
Responsible parties for fees will be invoiced by EPA and the
payment will be due within 120 days following the publication of the final
scope of a TSCA risk evaluation. Any consortia formed for a high priority
substance must notify EPA of their formation within 60 days of the publication
of the final scope of the risk evaluation.
Information and cost sharing
In an effort to share costs and promote efficiency,
stakeholders can form consortia to collaborate on developing comments, generating
relevant data/information and meeting with EPA to discuss the draft TSCA risk
evaluation. ACC’s
Center for Chemical Safety can serve as the
scientific, technical and advocacy hub for providing information and building
consortia to help stakeholders navigate the TSCA risk evaluation processes.
The Center also offers a broad range of specialty developed
tools that are available to consortia.
ACC manages a broad range of current TSCA consortia and is uniquely
positioned to share lessons learned from these efforts that enhance overall
consortia efforts.
Moving forward
ACC and
its member companies will continue to support and meet the requirements of the
law in order to help ensure TSCA implementation enhances public, industry, and
government confidence in TSCA’s federal chemical regulatory system.
We are confident that once fully implemented, TSCA will represent a leading chemical regulation in the world. Successful implementation of the law, in accordance with the statute and congressional intent, is essential to ensuring protections for human health and the environment, while enabling our industry to continue to innovate, create jobs and grow the economy.
For more information about the 20 high priority substances, risk evaluation process, and fee requirements, we encourage you to visit EPA’s TSCA website: https://www.epa.gov/chemicals-under-tsca.
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