Announced on January 13, 2025, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established regarding existing chemical substances subject to Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. § 2605). This MOU is designed to have better and more efficient coordination between the agencies for improved workplace health and safety protections for workers using the existing TSCA-regulated chemicals. In addition, these new processes will allow for effective implementation of national workplace and environmental protection statutes.
Under Section 6 of TSCA, EPA is required to prioritize and evaluate existing chemicals to identify unreasonable risks to health or the environment and to determine the appropriate risk management to address the unreasonable risks. Under the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, OSHA determines the risk to workers prior to issuing new or revising standards that address chemical hazards. The primary difference between the two pieces of legislation is that TSCA applies to a wider range of workers such as self-employed workers, military personnel, certain state and local government employees.
This MOU formalizes the agreement between EPA and OSHA in order to increase alignment between the two agencies to have greater efficiency and clarity for the regulated community regarding TSCA Section 6 activities in the workplace. As stated in the MOU, EPA has the sole responsibility for TSCA Section 6 prioritization, risk determination, and rulemaking decisions, and that input from OSHA is purely consultative. The specific activities are anticipated to be:
- A recurring update from EPA that includes regularly scheduled updates on EPA’s activities related to workplace exposures identified during TSCA section 6 regulation.
- A recurring update from OSHA that includes updates on OSHA’s activities related to chemicals subject to TSCA section 6 oversight.
For TSCA-regulated chemicals in the workplace, both agencies intend to have greater communication of the requirements for these substances of the relevant EPA and OSHA rules. This approach would include information on the inspections and enforcement mechanisms for each piece of legislation. Potential violations under TSCA section 6 and OSHA standards in workplaces would be referred to the appropriate agency for enforcement of applicable regulations and laws.
This MOU is effective immediately and the text on the complete memorandum can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2025-01/epa-and-osha-tsca-section-6-mou.pdf.
Published January 16, 2025
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