Significant New Use Rules on Certain Chemical Substances (26-1)
Key claim: Companies must give EPA 90 days’ notice before making, importing, or processing certain listed chemicals for newly designated uses, and cannot start until EPA reviews the notice and acts on it.
Abstract
(Rule · Environmental Protection Agency) EPA is issuing 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. The SNURs require persons to notify EPA at least 90 days before commencing the manufacture (defined by statute to include import) or processing of any of these chemical substances for an activity that is designated as a significant new use in the SNUR. 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 main regulatory bridge between EPA’s premanufacture review of new chemicals and later market expansion into uses that weren’t originally assessed. Each batch extends the 90-day notice-and-review gate to additional substances, incrementally increasing compliance obligations for manufacturers and processors while giving EPA an opportunity to screen novel exposure pathways before commercialization.