As part of its commitment to promote transparency and eliminate paperwork burden, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) now requires electronic submissions for new chemical notices under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This means companies can no longer submit new chemical notices and support documents on paper for EPA review.
“This is the latest in a series of actions that EPA is taking to improve the reporting of information on chemicals, and, importantly, increase the public’s access to that information,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “The agency used an outdated process that depended on paper filings for far too long.”
On April 6, 2010, the EPA issued a final rule that put in place a two-year phase-out of paper and optical disc reporting for new chemical notices to the agency. The rule included a one-year phase-out of paper reporting and a two-year phase-out of optical disc reporting. Now companies are required to submit these notices using the EPA's electronic PMN software either on optical disk (for one more year) or via its Central Data Exchange (CDX).
More information can be found at www.epa.gov.
