The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is putting a hold on the the Toxic Substances Control Act final risk management rule for trichloroethylene (TCE).
In December, 2024, EPA issued the final rule prohibiting all uses of TCE, most of which would be prohibited within one year, including TCE manufacture and processing for most commercial and all consumer products. The rule was originally intended to take effect on January 16, 2025.
EPA has received multiple petitions for review of the final rule. On January 13, 2025, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion to temporarily stay the rule's effective date. The petitions were then consolidated by the Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation and transferred to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. By an order dated January 16, 2025, the Third Circuit left the temporary administrative stay of the effective date in place pending further order of the court; therefore, the final rule has yet to go into effect.
Also, in accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2025, from President Trump, entitled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,” EPA temporarily delayed the effective date of the rule until March 21, 2025, via Federal Register notice published on January 28, 2025.
EPA expects to soon publish a federal register notice further postponing the effective date of all the requirements associated with TSCA section 6(g) exemptions in the final TCE rule for 90 days until June 20, 2025, pending judicial review.
Additionally, EPA has asked the court for more time to determine our next steps and to extend our deadline to respond to the stay for another 60 days. EPA is awaiting that response and will provide more information as it becomes available.
Read more at https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-management-trichloroethylene-tce.
