The US EPA has extended the compliance date for the prohibition of PIP (3:1) and products or articles containing PIP (3:1), as well as business record requirements for certain economic operators. The new compliance date will become effective on October 31, 2024.
In January 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued five final rules to regulate five persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals under Section 6(h) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
These five PBT chemicals are:
- 2,4,6-tris(tert-butyl)phenol (2,4,6-TTBP, CAS 732-26-3)
- Decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE, CAS 1163-19-5)
- Phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP 3:1, CAS 68937-41-7)
- Pentachlorothiophenol (PCTP, CAS 133-49-3)
- Hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD, CAS 87-68-3)
These five final rules were to be implemented in phases, starting on March 8, 2021 (SafeGuardS 19/21).
For the purpose of these five final rules, ‘Article’ and ‘Product’ have the following meaning (40 CFR 751.403):
- ‘Article’ means a manufactured item which:
- Is formed to a specific shape or design during manufacturing
- Has end use function(s) dependent in whole or in part upon its shape or design during end use
- Has either no change of chemical composition during its end use or only changes of composition that have no commercial purpose separate from that of the article, and that result from a chemical reaction that occurs upon end use of other chemical substances, mixtures, or articles; except that fluids and particles are not considered articles regardless of shape or design
- ‘Product’ means the chemical substance, a mixture containing the chemical substance, or any object that contains the chemical substance or mixture containing substance that is not an article
Since the publication of these five final rules, the EPA has, among other things, issued a final rule in September 2021 (86 FR 51823) to extend the compliance date in regards to PIP (3:1), a flame retardant and plasticizer in plastic articles and a functional fluid in aircraft and industrial machinery. The original compliance date of March 8, 2021, was then moved to March 8, 2022, in relation to:
- The prohibition on the processing and distribution of certain PIP (3:1)-containing articles
- The use of PIP (3:1) in manufactured articles
- Record keeping requirements applicable to economic operators (manufacturers, processors and distributors) of such articles
On March 8, 2022, the EPA published another final rule in the federal register (87 FR 12875) to further extend the compliance date for PIP (3:1) in relation to these three provisions. According to the latest final rule, these provisions for PIP (3:1) will now become effective on October 31, 2024.
As specified by ‘Current and Future Actions on EPA Rules on the EPA website, the agency intents to publish a proposal for new rulemaking on all five PBT chemicals in the spring of 2023. The existing provisions of the final rules remain in effect during this new rulemaking effort.
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