Key Contacts
Rewriting Risk: EPA's Evolving Chemical Review Actions Under TSCA
In the decade since Congress amended the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the EPAs approach to evaluating chemical risks has evolved through cycles of regulatory expansion, contraction and judicial review. As successive administrations reinterpret the statute’s “unreasonable risk” mandate and courts reconsider the scope of agency deference following the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369 (2024), the EPA’s exercise of its authority to regulate chemical exposures stands at a point of transition. The agency’s recent proposed revisions to its risk evaluation procedures and the pending litigation over its chemical-specific rules highlight the current administration’s emphasis on deregulation and a more streamlined approach to TSCA chemical risk regulation.
