On March 24, 2025, the EPA announced an update on the effective date of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) final risk management rule for trichloroethylene (TCE).
TCE is an extremely toxic chemical known to cause liver cancer, kidney cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It also, even in miniscule amounts, causes fetal heart defects and damage to the central nervous system, liver, kidneys, immune system, and reproductive organs.
It’s used as a solvent in consumer and commercial products like cleaning and furniture care products, degreasers, brake cleaners, sealants, lubricants, adhesives, paints and coatings, and arts and crafts spray coatings and is also used in the manufacture of some refrigerants. Safer alternatives are readily available for most of these uses, according to the EPA.
Background
On December 17, 2024, the EPA issued the final rule prohibiting all uses of TCE, most of which would be prohibited within 1 year, including TCE manufacture and processing for most commercial and all consumer products. The rule was originally intended to take effect on January 16, 2025.
Under the final rule, all uses of TCE were to be banned over time (with most identified risks eliminated within 1 year).
“All TCE uses with longer phaseout timeframes will have worker safety requirements, such as a Workplace Chemical Protection Plan that includes an inhalation exposure limit,” stated an EPA news release announcing the final rule. “The final rule sets a different inhalation exposure limit for airborne TCE than was proposed. This change was made in response to public comments to ensure the limit is feasible to implement and monitor while still reducing risk. EPA estimates that the new inhalation exposure limit would reduce long-term workplace exposure by 97%.
“Many uses of TCE continuing more than a year occur in industrialized settings that can easily adopt EPA’s new stringent worker protections, such as uses of TCE to clean parts used in aircraft and medical devices, to manufacture battery separators, to manufacture refrigerants, as well as in other transportation, security and defense systems.”
Current action
The EPA states it has received multiple petitions for review of the final rule.
“On January 13, 2025, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion to temporarily stay the rule’s effective date,” according to a current Agency news release. “The petitions were then consolidated by the Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation and transferred to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. By an order dated January 16, 2025, the Third Circuit left the temporary administrative stay of the effective date in place pending further order of the court; therefore, the final rule has yet to go into effect.
“Also, in accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2025, from President Trump, entitled ‘Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,’ EPA temporarily delayed the effective date of the rule until March 21, 2025, via Federal Register notice published on January 28, 2025.”
The EPA says it soon expects to publish a Federal Register notice that will further postpone the effective date of all the requirements associated with TSCA Section 6(g) exemptions in the final TCE rule for 90 days until June 20, 2025, pending judicial review.
The EPA has also requested additional time from the court to determine its next steps and to extend the deadline another 60 days to respond to the stay. At this time, the Agency is awaiting the court’s response and said it will provide additional information as it becomes available.