EPA’s PFAS Fluorination Rulemaking Survives Legal Challenge
The D.C. District Court has dismissed a Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) citizen suit seeking to speed up the agency’s rulemaking on PFAS formation during plastic fluorination. The court held that an EPA request for information satisfied TSCA’s requirement that the agency “initiate…action” within 180 days to mitigate “significant risk.” The environmental groups behind Public […]
EPA Grants Petition to Address PFAS Created by Plastic Fluorination
On July 10, 2024, EPA granted a citizen petition from environmental groups encouraging EPA to take Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) section 6 action for three PFAS substances produced during the fluorination of plastic containers. The petition alleges that the three PFAS—PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA—pose a variety of serious human health hazards, even at extremely […]
Fifth Circuit TSCA Ruling: Established Process Not a “New Use”
A decades-old manufacturing process cannot constitute a significant new use under TSCA, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on March 21, 2024, in the case Inhance Techs. v. EPA. Inhance Technologies LLC (“Inhance”) has strengthened plastic containers using the same fluorination process since 1983. Unbeknownst to Inhance and EPA until March […]
PEER and CEH Request Court Injunction Against EPA
On February 15, 2024, the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) filed a lawsuit against EPA in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stating that EPA failed to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The two nonprofit environmental groups said in their […]
EPA Orders Plastic Fluorination Company to Stop Producing PFAS
Inhance Technologies LLC (“Inhance”) must stop producing PFAS substances created during its fluorination of high-density polyethylene plastic containers, according to two orders issued by EPA on December 1, 2023. EPA first became aware of PFAS contamination in fluorinated plastic containers in late 2020. In March 2022, EPA issued a Notice of Violation to Inhance for […]
Environmental Groups Call on FDA to Revoke Approval of Fluorinated Plastic for Food Contact
A coalition of environmental and health groups led by the Environmental Defense Fund have petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to revoke approval of fluorinated polyethylene as an indirect food additive. According to the petition, manufacture of fluorinated polyethylene produces PFAS, including harmful perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids if water or oxygen is present. FDA approved […]
TSCA Enforcement Action Taken Over Failure to Comply with PFAS SNUR
In December 2022, two separate lawsuits were filed against Inhance Technologies USA regarding its alleged production of certain PFAS substances in violation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”). These lawsuits are important as they raise novel questions of TSCA interpretation and enforcement. The first lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, Environment […]
EPA Evaluation of PFAS Leaching in Fluorinated Containers
On September 8, 2022, EPA announced findings of the Agency’s evaluation of PFAS leaching in fluorinated containers. Specifically, the evaluation assessed the extent to which PFAS that are present in the packaging leach into the contents of the containers. The study tested the leaching potential of PFAS over a 20-week test period into water, methanol […]