TSCA Updates: TCE Workplace Rules Postponed, New Risk Evaluation Available

EPA has postponed—until August 19, 2025—the deadline for workplaces that use trichloroethylene (TCE) to comply with new requirements for monitoring and controlling exposure under TSCA §6(a). The postponed requirements apply to uses of TCE that are exempt from the December 2024 Final Rule prohibiting and/or phasing-out all activity involving the chemical.  

EPA also addressed the status of legal challenges to the Final Rule. In May, EPA asked the courts to suspend the case until the agency can re-consider (and potentially revise) the Rule by following the typical rulemaking process.
 

“On May 27, 2025, EPA moved to hold the case in abeyance because it intends to reconsider the final rule, including provisions subject to EPA’s Initial Notice, through notice-and-comment rulemaking.” 

Note: The TSCA Activity Tracker has been updated. 

1,1-Dichloroethane: Final Risk Evaluation 

EPA also recently announced that a Final Risk Evaluation for the substance 1,1-dichloroethane (1,1-DCA) is now available. EPA found that the substance poses an unreasonable risk to worker health, with the risk stemming from three specific conditions of use (COUs). 

EPA determined that, due to the risk of inhalation exposure for workers, three conditions of use (COUs) contribute to the unreasonable risk finding for 1,1-dichloroethane:  

• Processing as a reactant—intermediate in all other basic organic chemical manufacturing; 
• Processing as a reactant—intermediate in all other chemical product and preparation manufacturing; and 
• Processing—recycling 

Under TSCA, when EPA finds that a chemical poses an unreasonable risk, the Agency must follow-up with regulations that prohibit or restrict some or all uses of the chemical, to address the risk. 

Master TSCA Compliance

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is complex and enforcement is stringent, making a comprehensive understanding of the rules critical for compliance.  The law has broad applicability, subjecting all companies that “manufacture, use, process, distribute, import, or export chemical products” to complex reporting and management requirements.
 
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Tags: TSCA, TSCA risk evaluation