On December 14, 2012, EPA announced the withdrawal of an immediate final rule issued under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(d) regarding products containing cadmium. “EPA has decided to withdraw the immediate final rule”, said EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics in a December 14 statement. The withdrawal was to be codified in a Federal Register announcement last week.
The immediate final rule had required “manufacturers (including importers) of cadmium or cadmium compounds, including as part of an article, that have been, or are reasonably likely to be, incorporated into consumer products to submit certain unpublished health and safety studies to EPA” as announced in the December 3 Federal Register. The rule was issued in response to a May 28, 2010 petition from environmental groups and as part of a joint effort with the Consumer Products Safety Commission to reduce exposure to cadmium, especially by children in products such as children’s jewelry products.
The EPA withdrawal was apparently issued in response to comments by the International Cadmium Association, an industry group headquartered in Belgium, in which the group threatened to sue the EPA claiming the rule was arbitrary and capricious.
For more information regarding the cadmium rule withdrawal, or more generally about compliance with TSCA, contact Steve O’Day or Phillip Hoover.
The name of the attorney includes a link to their e-mail.