EPA Sends TSCA Fee Adjustment Final Rule to OMB

Yesterday, OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs announced that it had received a final rule from the EPA on “Fees for the Administration of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)”. The EPA is required to periodically (every three years) update the fees it charges for the administration of the TSCA program. This would be the first adjustment since the TSCA changes were made by Congress in 2016.

According to the Spring 2023 Unified Agenda entry for this rulemaking:

“EPA is considering comments on the 2022 supplemental proposal to its 2021 proposed updates and adjustments to the 2018 fees rule established under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to inform the development of a final rule. TSCA requires EPA to review and, if necessary, adjust the fees every three years, after consultation with parties potentially subject to fees. With over five years of experience administering the TSCA amendments of 2016, EPA is taking this action to ensure that the fees charged accurately reflect the level of effort and resources needed to implement TSCA in the manner envisioned by Congress when it reformed the law. The supplemental proposal narrowed certain proposed exemptions for entities subject to the EPA-initiated risk evaluation fees and proposed exemptions for the test rule fee activities; proposed modifications to the self-identification and reporting requirements for EPA-initiated risk evaluation and test rule fees; proposed a partial refund of fees for premanufacture notices withdrawn at any time after the first 10 business days during the assessment period of the chemical; proposed modifications to EPA's proposed methodology for the production volume-based fee allocation for EPA-initiated risk evaluation fees in any scenario where a consortium is not formed; proposed expanding the fee requirements to companies required to submit information for test orders; proposed modifying the fee payment obligations to require payment by processors subject to test orders and enforceable consent agreements (ECA); proposed extending the timeframe for test order and test rule payments; and proposed changes to the fee amounts and the estimate of EPA's total costs for administering TSCA.”