On March 25, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its plan to consider a proposed rule that may exempt many manufacturers and importers from its new Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Fees Rule (we outlined the TSCA Fees Rule requirements in a previous alert, which is available here). The TSCA Fees Rule requires all manufacturers and importers of 20 high-priority chemical substances, including those who manufacture or import the substances in an article or as a byproduct or impurity, to self-identify to EPA and pay fees to support EPA’s risk evaluations on these substances. In response to stakeholder concerns regarding the burden that would be placed on industry to identify even small amounts of these substances in products, EPA announced it will consider exempting three categories of manufacturers and importers from self-identification and fees. The three categories are:

• Importers of the chemical substance in an article;
• Manufacturers of the chemical substance as a byproduct; and
• Manufacturers or importers of the chemical substance as an impurity.

While the rule changes implementing these exemptions will not be proposed until later this year and finalized in 2021, EPA issued a “no action assurance” stating that it will not pursue enforcement of the self-identification requirement for these three categories of manufacturers and importers.

Companies should note, however, that the “no action assurance” only applies to the self-identification requirements for these three categories of importers and manufacturers, all other aspects of the TSCA Fees Rule remain in effect. This includes the May 27, 2020 deadline for manufacturers and importers not included in the three categories to self-identify and for companies identified on EPA’s preliminary lists of entities subject to fees to submit corrections. More information, including the no-action assurance can be found here.

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