Methylene Chloride; TSCA Review and Risk Evaluation

Safer Chemicals Healthy Families (SCHF), Earthjustice and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) submit the attached comments on the July 5, 2022 notice of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcing the availability of a draft revision to the December 2020 risk evaluation for Methylene Chloride under section 6(b) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The draft revised risk determination for Methylene Chloride is based on two important changes in how EPA conducts risk evaluations under section 6(b) of TSCA: •EPA proposes to "determine that methylene chloride, as a whole chemical, presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health when evaluated under its conditions of use." As the notice explains, EPA believes its "risk determination for Methylene Chloride is better characterized as a whole chemical risk determination rather than condition-of-use-specific risk determinations." Accordingly, EPA would revise and replace section 5 of the risk evaluation for Methylene Chloride, which makes findings of unreasonable risk "for the individual conditions of use evaluated." EPA would also withdraw its previous order under section 6(i)(I) of TSCA determining that 6 Methylene Chloride conditions of use do not present unreasonable risks. 87 Fed. Reg. at 39825. •EPA proposes to modify EPA's determination of unreasonable risk to workers so it no longer reflects an "assumption that all workers always appropriately wear personal protective equipment (PPE)." For Methylene Chloride and other chemicals, determinations of unreasonable risk to workers would instead be made "from a baseline scenario that does not assume compliance with OSHA standards, including any applicable exposure limits or requirements for use of respiratory protection or other PPE" Instead, "information on the use of PPE as a means of mitigating risk . . . would be considered during the risk management phase as appropriate." 87 Fed. Reg. at 39828. EPA earlier proposed to apply these approaches to its risk evaluation for the Cyclic Aliphatic Bromide Cluster (HBCD). 86 Fed. Reg. 74082 (December 29, 2021). In our comments, we agreed that EPA should replace use-by-use approaches with whole chemical risk determinations and evaluate risks to workers without unsupportable assumptions about the effectiveness of PPE. We also urged EPA to embrace and apply the whole chemical approach more expansively. On June 29, 2022, EPA finalized its revised risk determination for HBCD in accordance with its proposal and rejected legal and policy challenges by industry stakeholders. 87 Fed. Reg. 38747. Building on its final action on HBCD, EPA has now proposed to adopt the same approach for Methylene Chloride and several other substances subject to its initial risk evaluations. Our groups support these new proposals. Below, we reiterate our earlier recommendations to strengthen the whole chemical approach and urge EPA to incorporate key elements of the analysis supporting its final revised risk determination for HBCD. We also reiterate why EPA should make no assumptions about the effectiveness of PPE use in its risk determinations and rebut industry objections to EPA's approach to worker protection under TSCA.

Attached please find a request for extension of the comment periods on the ten Problem Formulations for Risk Evaluations To Be Conducted Under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and on the General Guiding Principles To Apply Systematic Review in TSCA Risk Evaluations, submitted by Earthjustice, Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Safer Chemicals Healthy Families. The comment periods for all of these complex documents are set to end on July 26, 2018, a time period this is simply inadequate to providing meaningful review and comment for the reasons set out in the attached letter. We request an extension for a minimum of 46 days. With a 46-day extension, the comment period would close on Monday, September 10, 2018.

NRDC comments attached

NRDC comments attached

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Environmental Health Strategy Center submit this letter to request that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency extend the public comment period to April 15, 2017 for receiving input and information to assist the Agency in its efforts to establish the scope of risk evaluations for the ten chemical substances designated on December 19, 2016 pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act.