EPA final fee rule brings in additional resources for TSCA

(Washington, DC) On Thursday, February 8, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized amendments to the 2018 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Fees Rule. Under the law, EPA is required to set industry fees such that the agency recoups 25% of its TSCA program costs.

Lindsay McCormick, Senior Manager, Safer Chemicals, noted: “Environmental Defense Fund is encouraged that EPA has finalized a fee rule that will bring in an estimated $36.7 million in resources each year to better equip EPA to implement TSCA. However, we will be looking to better understand whether EPA’s 19% reduction of the baseline cost to implement the law is warranted—as any reduction impacts EPA’s ability to adequately resource its TSCA programs now and in future years.”

In the final rule, EPA reduced the total program cost estimate by over 19% to approximately $146.8 million (compared to approximately $181.9 million in the 2022 proposed rule). The agency commensurately reduced fees associated with EPA-initiated risk evaluations from $5.1 million to $4.3 million, and reduced fees for reviewing new chemical submissions from $45,000 to $37,000.

Read our previous statement on the 2022 Fee Rule proposal.