Friday, February 26, 2021
The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) December 30, 2020 issuance of its risk evaluation for asbestos under Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has generated considerable attention and activity, which will likely keep interested parties and the courts busy for quite some time.
As background, TSCA Section 6 requires EPA to prepare risk evaluations for “high priority” chemical substances that “may present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.” Asbestos was selected as one of the “first ten” substances to undergo risk evaluation, as required by the 2016 TSCA amendments, without consideration of costs or other non-risk factors.