Chlorinated Paraffins Maria J. Doa Environmental Protection agency

What Is Being Reviewed? Premanufacture notices (PMNs) submitted under Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Several PMNs submitted for certain medium-chain (C14-C17) chlorinated paraffins (MCCP) long-chain (C18-C20) chlorinated paraffins (LCCP) very long-chain (>C20) chlorinated paraffins (vLCCP)

Why Are They Being Reviewed? Settlements resolving violations of the TSCA premanufacture notice obligations Illegal production and import of various chlorinated paraffins

Consent Decrees Consent decree between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and EPA and Dover Chemical Consent decree between DOJ and EPA and INEOS Chlor Americas, Inc These companies were required to submit premanufacture notices under TSCA section 5 for all chlorinated paraffins domestically produced or imported As part of the consent decree, the companies agreed that the chemical substances would be review as new chemical substances under TSCA section 5 Allowed to continue to produce these chemicals during the review period

Short-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins As part of the settlement, the companies were required to cease domestic manufacture and import of short-chain chlorinated paraffins Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) Proposed for addition to Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants UNECE Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP)

Short-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins EPA initially raised concerns about chlorinated paraffins in its December 2009 Action Plan on Short-Chained Chlorinated Paraffins (www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/actionplans/sccps.html) The Action Plan also identified MCCPs and LCCPs EPA is concerned about the potential persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic properties of these chemicals Particularly in light of the dispersive nature of many of the uses

TSCA Section 5 Review As with all PMN submissions, EPA has and is continuing to follow the processes, procedures and statutory provisions of TSCA section 5 for the chlorinated paraffin PMNs, TSCA section 5 policy on chemical substances that are potential PBT chemicals Assessment of human health and environmental toxicity Exposure assessment consistent with other PMN reviews Section 5(e) determination on whether the chemicals “may present an unreasonable risk”

TSCA Section 5 Review PBT Concerns for MCCPs and LCCPs Persistent to very persistent Bioaccumulative to very bioaccumulative Toxic to aquatic organisms at low levels Risk to aquatic organisms even without considering persistence and bioaccumulation

TSCA Section 5 Section 5 PBT policy Identifies action that EPA could take based on degree of persistence and bioaccumulation Policy is based on the concern that EPA has for chemicals that are persistent and bioaccumulative The chemical is persistent and bioaccumulative There can be commercialization with testing required to be completed once certain production levels are reached The chemical is very persistent and very bioaccumulative Ban commercialization of the chemical until certain testing is completed

Critical Uses TSCA section 5 finding The chemical presents or may present an unreasonable risk When a chemical may present a risk, is it “unreasonable”? Consideration of use and what it is a substitute for In this case a consideration of critical uses

Critical Use Distinguishing critical uses from those uses for which a company needs a period of time to transition to another material or to reformulate a product The information that we need to consider such a request is: What specifically is the use and an explanation of its importance What is the specific chlorinated paraffin(s) that is critical to that use Note that chlorinated paraffins or MCCPs is not sufficiently specific. Why will the available substitutes not work. Please describe why the substitutes will not work

Critical Use EPA research Requests to industry over the last nine months Department of Defense DoD has asked suppliers Information from industry Information on how widespread the use is Very little information provided on critical uses

May 31, 2016 EPA will be completing its assessment shortly The assessments and the regulatory decisions are specific to the individual PMNs submitted Does the May 31, 2016 date still hold? Have heard from many that they need time to transition Mid-2017 Would apply to the domestic production and import

Questions?

Thank You! Contact Informaton Maria J. Doa Doa.maria@epa.gov