EPA Wants 90-Day Warning Before Companies Try New Chemical Uses
Published Date: 11/2/2026
Proposed Rule
Summary
The EPA is proposing new rules that require companies to tell them 90 days before starting new uses of certain chemicals. This helps the EPA check if those uses are safe before they begin. If you make or import these chemicals, you’ll need to follow these rules once they’re final, and comments are due by December 2, 2026.
Analyzed Economic Effects
7 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 7 costs, 0 mixed.
Large SNUN submission costs and user fees
If you submit a Significant New Use Notice (SNUN), EPA estimates the full cost per SNUN at about $45,496 for large businesses and $14,976 for small businesses. In addition, a SNUN submitter must pay a user fee of $37,000 (or a reduced user fee of $6,480 for qualifying small businesses).
90‑day EPA notice before new chemical uses
If you manufacture (including import) or process any listed chemical for an activity designated as a "significant new use," you must notify EPA at least 90 days before starting that activity. You may not begin the manufacture or processing for that new use until EPA has reviewed the notice and made a determination.
November 2, 2026 cutoff can force cessation of new uses
EPA designates November 2, 2026 as the cutoff date for determining whether a new use is ongoing. Persons who begin manufacture or processing for a designated significant new use on or after that cutoff would have to stop the activity when the final SNUR is effective, and to resume would need to comply with SNUR notification requirements and obtain EPA approval.
EPA can require testing or additional data with SNUNs
When EPA reviews a SNUN, the Agency has authority to require appropriate testing and additional information. If a rule, order, or consent agreement under TSCA section 4 already requires information for the chemical, that information must be submitted with the SNUN.
Absence of order protective measures counts as new use
The proposed SNURs identify the absence of the protective measures imposed by underlying TSCA orders (for example, PPE requirements, respirator APF limits, concentration limits in consumer products, site‑limited manufacture, processing controls, and limits on releases to water) as "significant new uses." Examples in the orders include respirator APF minimums (e.g., APF 50 or APF 1000), consumer product concentration ceilings (e.g., <1%), and surface water concentration limits expressed in parts per billion (examples in the rule include 5 ppb, 34 ppb, 0.3 ppb, 415 ppb, 1000 ppb, 68 ppb, 104 ppb, and 1 ppb for different substances).
Exporters must notify EPA starting December 2, 2026
If you export or plan to export a listed chemical on or after December 2, 2026, you are subject to TSCA section 12(b) export notification rules and must file a one‑time notice to EPA for the first export or intended export to a particular country. EPA estimates the per‑notification cost at about $106.
Who must comply: manufacturers, importers, processors
This proposed rule applies to persons who manufacture, process, or use the listed chemicals, and may apply to importers and exporters through TSCA import/export rules. EPA lists NAICS codes 325 (chemical manufacturing) and 324110 (petroleum refineries) as examples of potentially affected entities.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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