Environmental Protection Agency
This action announces the availability of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) response to a petition received on January 4, 2024, from the Washington State Department of Ecology (the petitioner), asking EPA to initiate rulemaking under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to safeguard public health against PCBs in consumer products. EPA shares the petitioner's concerns regarding risks to human health and the environment posed by PCBs, and the Agency continues to work towards better understanding and reducing exposures to PCBs. However, the petitioner failed to point with any specificity to deficiencies in the Agency's 1984 final rule and determination of no unreasonable risk under TSCA. As a result, the petitioner has not provided adequate justification--based on the rulemaking process and record for the 1984 final rule and information provided or otherwise available to the Agency--to support reassessing the limits on allowable inadvertent PCBs in consumer products. Thus, EPA finds that the petition is insufficiently specific, and that the petitioner did not meet their burden under TSCA of establishing that it is necessary to amend the 1984 final rule. These deficiencies, among other findings, are detailed in this notice and serve as the reasons for the Agency's denial of the petition. As necessary and appropriate to supplement ongoing Agency efforts, EPA may consider information gathering activities under TSCA to collect data needed to better understand and characterize exposure and risk associated with inadvertently generated PCBs.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA-HQ-OPPT-2024-0029; FRL-11666-01-OCSPP] AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Petition; reasons for agency response. SUMMARY: This action announces the availability of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) response to a petition received on January 4, 2024, from the Washington State Department of Ecology (the petitioner), asking EPA to initiate rulemaking under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to safeguard public health against PCBs in consumer products. EPA shares the petitioner's concerns regarding risks to human health and the environment posed by PCBs, and the Agency continues to work towards better understanding and reducing exposures to PCBs. However, the petitioner failed to point with any ( printed page 24825) specificity to deficiencies in the Agency's 1984 final rule and determination of no unreasonable risk under TSCA. As a result, the petitioner has not provided adequate justification—based on the rulemaking process and record for the 1984 final rule and information provided or otherwise available to the Agency—to support reassessing the limits on allowable inadvertent PCBs in consumer products. Thus, EPA finds that the petition is insufficiently specific, and that the petitioner did not meet their burden under TSCA of establishing that it is necessary to amend the 1984 final rule. These deficiencies, among other findings, are detailed in this notice and serve as the reasons …
Citation: 89 FR 24824
