By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On November 21, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has improved public access to certain reports submitted by chemical companies in ChemView, EPA’s web application for public access to non-confidential business information (non-CBI) on chemicals regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), including new chemical notices and notices of substantial risk. EPA has published previously unpublished new chemical notices received under TSCA Section 5 and notices of substantial risk provided by companies under TSCA Section 8(e). EPA states that going forward, it will continue to identify older, previously submitted unpublished information to make available in ChemView and will publish newly received TSCA Section 5 notices and TSCA Section 8(e) reports on a “near real-time basis.” EPA has also published in ChemView chemical health and safety studies received under TSCA Section 8(d).
 
New Chemical Submissions
 
TSCA Section 5 requires EPA to publish a list of new chemical submissions it has received, including premanufacture notices (PMN), significant new use notices (SNUN), microbial commercial activity notices (MCAN), test market exemption (TME) applications, notices of commencement of manufacture or import (NOC), and test information submitted under Section 5. According to EPA, in 2022 it made available in ChemView more than 25,000 new chemical notice records received under TSCA Section 5, including notices received between 2014 and 2019 that had not been published previously. In 2019, EPA began publishing non-CBI notices on an ongoing basis, and “new records are now generally published within five days of receipt.” EPA states that it will also continue to identify and make public older, previously unpublished new chemicals notices.
 
Notices of Substantial Risk
 
TSCA Section 8(e) requires chemical companies to inform EPA of information that reasonably supports the conclusion that a chemical may present a substantial risk of injury to health or the environment. EPA uses these notices to inform new and existing chemical risk assessment activities. According to EPA, in 2022 it has published 3,900 notices of substantial risk records received under TSCA Section 8(e) in ChemView, including more than 3,300 non-CBI notices submitted between January 1, 2019, and December 20, 2021, that were not previously published due to resource limitations. EPA states that over the next several months, it will publish all non-CBI versions of Section 8(e) notices received from December 20, 2021, to the present. Going forward, “EPA will strive to publish 8(e) notices deemed complete within a week of receiving them from companies.” Additionally, EPA will work to identify and publish Section 8(e) notices received before 2019 as resources allow.
 
Health and Safety Data Reporting
 
Regulations promulgated under TSCA Section 8(d) require chemical companies to submit lists and copies of health and safety studies relating to the health and/or environmental effects of specified chemical substances and mixtures. According to EPA, in 2022 it published more than 1,700 health and safety study records received since September 2021 under TSCA Section 8(d) in ChemView. EPA notes that many of these records were in response to EPA’s 2021 Section 8(d) rulemaking, Health and Safety Data Reporting; Addition of 20 High-Priority Substances and 30 Organohalogen Flame Retardants. EPA states that it expects to publish additional Section 8(d) records “in the future.”

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By Lynn L. Bergeson

EPA announced on November 13, 2019, that it published “new, easily-searchable” web pages displaying information on:

• Premanufacture Notices (PMN), Significant New Use Notices (SNUN), Microbial Commercial Activity Notices (MCAN), and Test Market Exemption Applications (TMEA);
   
• Notices of Commencement of Manufacture or Import (NOC); and
   
• Test information submitted under Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
   

EPA notes that it is required to publish information pertaining to new chemical submissions under TSCA Section 5. EPA states that historically, these data have been, and will continue to be, made available monthly in the Federal Register via www.regulations.gov. According to EPA, the new web pages “are a much easier way for the public to access information about new chemical submissions.” The web pages provide information, such as the date the notice was received by EPA, the case number, and the chemical substance identity (to the extent that such information is not subject to a confidential business information (CBI) claim. EPA states that it will update the web pages monthly.

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On September 30, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a workshop on genetically engineered (GE) algae to give stakeholders an opportunity to hear about EPA's plans for improving its risk assessments of GE algae under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Dr. Jeff Morris, Deputy Director of Programs for the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), welcomed participants and laid out the scope of the meeting: to assist EPA in understanding the questions it needs to ask and answer when it receives a Microbial Commercial Activity Notice (MCAN) for GE algae. Dr. Morris discussed how this workshop will contribute to EPA's broader effort to update the Points to Consider in the Preparation of TSCA Biotechnology Submissions for Microorganisms document that relates to other GE microorganisms, as well as the update to the federal Coordinated Framework on the Regulation of Products of Biotechnology. While updating the framework will assist EPA in handling risk assessments for GE algae, regulation will continue to be risk-based and determined on a case-by-case basis.

Members of EPA's biotech review team discussed aspects of MCAN review and pointed out particular areas where EPA seeks input, in particular:

• Taxonomy of algae;
   
• Propensity to transfer genetic material to other species;
   
• Ability to produce toxins or allergenic effects;
   
• How the growth rate and forms (unicellular or filamentous) might relate to exposure;
   
• Survivability of GE algae in the wild; and
   
• Propensity to out-compete wild populations of algae, and organismal control mechanisms.

The panel, as well as stakeholders, commented on how algae are different than traditional industrial microbes in some significant ways:

• The organisms are not as well studied, largely because, unlike bacteria and fungi, they have only recently been used for industrial production.
   
• Inactivation methods are quite different because of the protective cell walls that algae have, that most microbes lack.

Dr. Morris also made it clear that this meeting is just the beginning of the conversation. EPA continues to seek input from stakeholders on algae, in particular, and other GE organisms as part of EPA's effort to update the regulatory framework for GE organisms. Draft Charge questions are available on the workshop website, speaker presentations can be accessed through the meeting agenda webpage, and the deadline for written comments is October 31, 2015. More information on EPA's development and use of biotechnology is available in B&C's memorandum EPA Posts Information on Biotechnology Algae Project.

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