New Opportunity for Public Comment on CBI Procedures

For Release: October 30, 2019

Today, in response to an April 2019 court decision on the TSCA Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive) Requirements Final Rule, EPA is issuing a supplemental proposal that includes two additional questions about “reverse engineering” that manufacturers and processors would be required to answer when making Confidential Business Information (CBI) claims. These questions would help provide additional information on CBI claims for specific chemical identities and would ensure that chemical companies are fully supporting their CBI claims. The Agency is also proposing a process for manufacturers and processors to use to amend and update certain previously-submitted claims to include responses to these additional questions, as required to be addressed by federal circuit court decision.

This supplemental notice is limited in scope. It impacts only the universe of CBI claims made for specific chemical identities for chemicals reported as “active” in response to the Active-Inactive Rule. Upon publication in the Federal Register of the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, EPA will accept public comments for 30 days in docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0320 on www.regulations.gov.