EPA Chemical Rulemaking Complicated by Challenge to Agency Power

Litigation challenging the EPA’s interpretation of the nation’s primary chemicals law is expected to increase this year, when the agency could face courts using a tougher standard for weighing its interpretation of the law.

There hasn’t been a lot of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) litigation since 2016, when Congress overhauled TSCA’s core provisions, said David Fischer, a Keller and Heckman LLP attorney focusing on chemical and pesticide regulations.

But there will be many more targets starting this year, he said, as the Environmental Protection Agency begins to issue a batch of 10 final rules that will ...