Legislative Update: EPA Lists Vinyl Chloride Among Five Chemicals for TSCA Prioritization, Congress Passes National Defense Authorization Act

EPA Lists Vinyl Chloride Among Five Chemicals for TSCA Prioritization

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Dec. 14 that it has identified vinyl chloride–the main component in the manufacturing and processing of plastic materials and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)–and four other substances as candidates for high-priority evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This move comes in response to EPA’s concerns about the safety of these chemicals and the need for thorough risk evaluations. EPA anticipates that vinyl chloride, along with acetaldehyde, acrylonitrile, benzenamine, and 4,4’-methylene bis(2-chloroaniline) (MBOCA), will be designated as high-priority, which would trigger mandatory evaluations and rulemaking for each of them. The EPA will have 9-12 months to analyze available data on each substance to determine if it should be designated as high-priority.   All five chemicals were selected from the 2014 TSCA Work Plan, a list of chemicals identified by EPA for further assessment based on their hazards and potential for exposure.

Following the publication of the Federal Register notice, the EPA will initiate a public comment period and request additional information on the potential risks of the identified chemicals. EPA is interested in gathering information on the chemicals’ uses and encourages companies involved in their production and use to submit comments. While EPA anticipates designating these chemicals as high-priority for risk evaluation, it will continue to review and assess available information before making a final designation. The evaluation will consider hazards and exposure potential, environmental buildup, vulnerable subpopulations, proximity to drinking water sources, usage patterns, and manufacturing volumes.

“Vinyl Institute and our members are fully prepared to work with the EPA during both prioritization and risk evaluation of vinyl chloride,”  Vinyl Institute President and CEO Ned Monroe said in a statement. “The Agency’s prioritization of vinyl chloride is no surprise to us because it has been part of EPA’s work plan since 2012. The Vinyl Institute has indicated our strong interest to be engaged in the process early, and to serve as a collaborative resource for the Agency to proactively identify and address any information needs that would expedite a high-quality risk evaluation.”

Monroe further stated that the VI already supports the risk evaluation process for other substances under review by EPA. “As the Agency has noted, selection for prioritization is not a finding that an unreasonable risk is presented, but the start of a multi-year review process to assess potential risks,” he said.

The Vinyl Institute believes the risk evaluation will confirm the safety of vinyl chloride production and use, highlighting that manufacturers already adhere to rigorous safety and environmental regulations.  They note that vinyl chloride monomer and PVC production facilities, where the primary risk of exposure exists, have taken measures to protect American workers and downstream customers since the mid-1970s.

In addition to ensuring the safety of vinyl chloride production and use, the Vinyl Institute believes the risk evaluation will also demonstrate that manufacturers already follow rigorous safety and environmental regulations. “The greatest potential for vinyl chloride exposure is for workers at vinyl chloride monomer and PVC production facilities. In the mid-1970s, the industry implemented closed-loop technology and both OSHA and EPA enacted regulations to effectively protect American workers, and downstream users, of American-made PVC,” Mr. Monroe assured.

House Heads Home for Recess as Senate Postpones Recess to Work Into Next Week

The House of Representatives and Senate have been wrapping up their end-of-year agenda before the holiday recess.  The House adjourned on Dec. 14.  The Senate was initially scheduled to leave on Dec. 15 but has decided to push back its holiday recess to continue working next week on stalled military promotions,  extend the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authority, and is optimistic that they may be close to a bipartisan deal on border security that could lead to a path for aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.   The FAA bill is set to expire on Dec. 31, but Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) blocked passing the bill quickly, instead leveraging the deadline to force a Ukrainian funding deal.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) said that members needed to be in D.C. for at least the early part of next week.  Even if the Senate can come to an agreement on a border security deal with military aid to Ukraine and Israel, the measure will likely be punted until next year. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) appears unlikely to call the chamber back into session before January.

This week, both chambers prioritized passing the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, H.R. 2670) after releasing the conference report with the compromised text of the $886.3 billion measure on December 6.  The Senate passed the bill on Dec. 13 in an 87-13 vote.  The House passed the bill under suspension of the rules, which required a two-thirds majority in a 310-118 vote.  The bill passed easily, despite several Republicans opposing the language expanding Section 702 program of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which authorizes the collection of foreigners’ communications data and sometimes sweeps up Americans’ conversations in the process.

The House has yet to make further progress on passing the remaining five individual appropriations bills.  The “laddered” CR’s first four spending bills–Agriculture, Energy-Water, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD–are set to expire on Jan. 19, and the other eight appropriations bills expire on Feb. 2.  With lawmakers not set to return after the holiday recess until the week of Jan. 8, Congress has an incredibly short time to finish passing these bills.  Another issue is that the terms of the debt-limit law contained a sequestration provision that would result in a 1% cut to all government spending if Congress does not pass all 12 appropriations bills by the time the current CR expires.

It remains to be seen whether Congress will be able to enact regular FY24 appropriations to avoid this outcome. Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested that if they ”can’t get the final bills finished under this timeline, with good conservative wins, then we’re just going to go with the most painful version of a full year CR.”  The statement has gotten strong pushback from the Senate Appropriations Chairwoman, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and the Defense Department‘s top leaders, who warn of the harmful effects they foresee for the US military, misaligning billions of dollars, preventing up to 156 new start programs, and delaying the planned increase in production and new construction and housing projects.

Before leaving for recess,  House Republicans on Dec. 13 voted to formally authorize its ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, which is examining whether Biden and his family illegally profited from his son Hunter’s foreign business dealings when Biden served as vice president from 2009 to 2017.