EPA Announces New Framework for New PFAS in Industry

By Thomas Sokolowski | Taft PFAS Insights | July 6, 2023

Read the full article by Thomas Sokolowski (Taft PFAS Insights)

“On June 29, 2023, EPA issued its ‘Framework for TSCA New Chemicals Review of PFAS Premanufacture Notices (PMNs) and Significant New Use Notices (SNUNs)‘—its latest effort to stop the environmental release of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This move targets PFAS at the industry source in order to eliminate risks before PFAS enter commerce.

PFAS are of great public and governmental interest because of their widespread use in a variety of products, ability to persist in the environment, and documented adverse human health and environmental effects. This past March, PFAS received exceptional public attention when EPA proposed its first-ever national drinking water standards for six PFAS. However, new PFAS entering the marketplace present a significant challenge for EPA to evaluate. Often, there is insufficient information on the new substance in order to quantify risk and make effective decisions regarding its regulation—there are thousands of different PFAS, but data for only a small fraction are available to the broader scientific community, regulators, and the public.

The new Framework issued by EPA will guide EPA’s New Chemicals Program with a planned approach for its review of new PFAS or significant new uses of existing PFAS. Under section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the New Chemicals Program functions as a ‘gatekeeper’ to regulate new chemicals before they enter commerce and new uses of existing chemicals in the marketplace. Before being distributed and used in commerce, new chemicals and significant new uses of existing chemicals are reviewed through premanufacture notices (PMNs) and significant new use notices (SNUNs) submitted to EPA. For each PMN and SNUN submission, TSCA requires the New Chemicals Program to make a finding pertaining to the risk of the new chemical or significant new use. Importantly, the Framework will not only apply to notices that EPA receives in the future, but to notices that are currently under EPA review."

This content provided by the PFAS Project.