EPA Extends Chemical Watchlist Paperwork for Safety Sake
Published Date: 12/30/2025
Notice
Summary
The EPA is asking to keep collecting info on new and changing chemicals to keep everyone safe. This affects companies making or using chemicals, who’ll keep submitting details for review. You’ve got until January 29, 2026, to share your thoughts, and this process helps protect health without adding extra costs.
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 5 costs, 0 mixed.
ICR Renewal Keeps Reporting and Costs
If you manufacture, import, or process chemicals, the EPA has submitted a renewal of its information collection (ICR No. 1188.16) that continues mandatory reporting under TSCA section 5. The ICR is currently approved through December 31, 2025; EPA estimates 4,234 respondents, a total burden of 128,367 hours per year, and total annual respondent costs of $45,183,758.
90‑Day Premanufacture Notice Requirement
If you plan to manufacture or import a new chemical not on the TSCA Inventory, you must submit a premanufacture notice (PMN) to EPA at least 90 days before starting manufacture; for microorganisms the 90-day notice is called a Microbial Commercial Activity Notice (MCAN). EPA will review the notice and must make one of five determinations that control how the chemical may be manufactured, used, or disposed.
Significant New Use Notices (SNUN) Required
If you propose to manufacture or process a chemical for a use that EPA has designated a "significant new use," you must submit a Significant New Use Notice (SNUN) and undergo EPA review. Existing chemicals on the TSCA Inventory subject to SNURs also trigger notice requirements when pursued for new uses.
Exporters Subject to TSCA 12(b) Notification
If you intend to export a substance that is identified in a proposed or final SNUR, you are subject to the export notification requirements of TSCA section 12(b) and 40 CFR part 707; those paperwork burdens are covered under OMB Control No. 2070-0030 (EPA ICR No. 0795.16).
Notice of Commencement Adds New Chemicals to TSCA Inventory
When non‑exempt commercial manufacture of a submitted new chemical begins, the PMN/MCAN submitter must file a Notice of Commencement; EPA will then add the new chemical to the TSCA section 8(b) Inventory.
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