Toxic Substances and Control ACt

July 26, 2024

EPA has failed to protect consumers from PFAS-laced containers, lawsuit alleges

By Shannon Kelleher

US regulators have failed to protect the public from millions of plastic containers that contain toxic PFAS chemicals, which can leach into pesticides, condiments, household cleaners, and many other products, alleges a lawsuit filed this week by environmental groups.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) by neglecting to demand that manufacturers stop making containers using a fluorination process that results in per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

When the EPA proposed drinking water regulations for six PFAS chemicals in March 2023, the agency stated it had determined there is no safe level of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and that this type of PFAS is likely to cause cancer. Under the TSCA, the agency had six months to start addressing PFOA’s presence in plastic containers but failed to do so, allege the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

“EPA’s failure to protect the public from exposures to toxic PFOA in their daily lives is inexcusable and reflects a severe leadership deficit at the agency,” said Kyla Bennett, science policy director for PEER, in a statement.

The EPA declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

PFOA is one of thousands of PFAS chemicals, which do not break down naturally in the environment and are found in the blood of most Americans. PFAS are in many everyday products, including nonstick cookware, dental floss, rain gear, and makeup.

March 25, 2024

US court blocks EPA order to eliminate PFAS in plastic containers

By Shannon Kelleher

A US appeals court has vacated an action by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordering a company to stop producing plastic containers that leach toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into pesticides, household cleaners, condiments, and many other products.

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals on March 21 ruled that the EPA exceeded its statutory authority when it issued orders to Texas-based Inhance in December prohibiting the company from manufacturing or processing PFAS through its fluorination process for containers.

The EPA move came after the agency determined that types of PFAS created during the fluorination process “are highly toxic and present unreasonable risks that cannot be prevented other than through prohibition of manufacture.”

The agency issued the orders under the Toxic Substances and Control Act (TSCA), which authorizes the EPA to regulate and screen chemicals produced or imported into the US.

But Inhance challenged the EPA’s action, arguing that the EPA improperly sought to take action against the company under a section of TSCA dealing with new uses of chemicals, and that Inhance’s process did not constitute a new use.

The court agreed that the fluorination technique Inhance uses to prevent liquids from leaking out of its plastic containers – a process that creates PFAS chemicals – does not count as a significant new use since Inhance has been using this process since 1983.

November 1, 2023

“Time is up” – EPA facing threat of citizens’ lawsuit seeking cap on climate pollution

By Dana Drugmand

US regulators are breaking the law by failing to set a national cap on climate pollution, endangering human health and the environment, according to a consortium threatening to file a citizens’ lawsuit against the government to force “stronger, faster actions to address the climate emergency.”

The states of Oregon and Minnesota, along with the San Carlos Apache Tribe and climate advocacy organizations 350.org and the Center for Biological Diversity, said this week that they plan to sue the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demanding the agency respond to a 2009 petition for regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

In a letter addressed to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, the consortium pointed out that the EPA has long known that climate changes are occurring that are harming human health and that the “effects will only worsen over time” without regulatory action.

“In the nearly fourteen years since the petition has been pending before EPA, the climate crisis has become far more dire, devastating lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems,” the letter states.

The letter references a new “state of the climate report” from scientists that warns: “Life on planet Earth is under siege. We are now in an uncharted territory” and that “time is up.” And the letter quotes the UN Secretary General warning of an approaching “climate time-bomb.”

The EPA has 180 days to respond to the letter, called a notice of intent to sue, after which time a lawsuit would be filed in federal district court in the District of Columbia.