Ninth Circuit Grapples With Scope of EPA’s Flame Retardant Rule

A federal appeals panel struggled Tuesday with whether Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency flame retardant regulations are an appropriate interpretation of federal law and thus satisfy restrictions on toxic, bio-cumulative chemicals.

During oral arguments, US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit judges questioned both parties on the rule’s exemption of recycling plastics, disposals, and other industrial byproduct sources of decabromodiphenyl contamination from regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

DecaBDE is linked to several health problems, including cancer, reproductive harm, and damage to children’s brain development, according to the petitioners’ brief.

Judge Brian Morris—sitting by designation from the US ...