Significant New Use Rules on Certain Chemical Substances (26-7)
Key claim: If finalized, companies would have to notify EPA 90 days before making, importing, or processing certain already-reviewed chemicals in newly designated ways, and could not start until EPA reviews the notice and acts on it.
Abstract
(Proposed Rule · Environmental Protection Agency) EPA is proposing significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for certain chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs) and are also subject to an Order issued by EPA pursuant to TSCA. Once finalized, the SNURs would require persons who intend to manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or process any of these chemical substances for an activity that is proposed as a significant new use by this rulemaking to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing that activity. The required notification initiates EPA’s evaluation of the conditions of that use for that chemical substance. In addition, the manufacture or processing for the significant new use may not commence until EPA has conducted a review of the required notification, made an appropriate determination regarding that notification, and taken such actions as required by that determination.
Why this matters
SNURs are the recurring mechanism by which EPA keeps a gate on new uses of chemicals it has already screened, letting the agency re-evaluate exposure pathways before commercialization. Each batch adds compliance obligations for manufacturers and processors but also provides a health/environmental checkpoint; the cumulative effect of these routine packages shapes the practical scope of TSCA Section 5 oversight.