EPA Announces Plan for New Rulemaking on PBT Chemicals, Extends Existing Compliance Date to Protect Supply Chains

The EPA announced its plan to initiate a new separate rulemaking in Spring 2023 and propose new rules for the five identified chemicals that are considered persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic ("PBT Chemicals"), including phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) ("PIP (3:1)"). EPA expect industry commenters to provide documentation of the specific uses of PIP (3:1) in articles throughout their supply chains, documentation of concrete steps taken to identify, test, and qualify substitutes for those uses, documentation of specific certifications that would require updating and an estimate of the time that would be required. Without this more specific information from suppliers, EPA will be unlikely to extend the compliance dates again.