EPA Proposes to Revise Procedures for Enforceable Consent Agreements

U.S. EPA proposes to revise the procedures for developing Enforceable Consent Agreements – legal agreements between EPA and private parties specifying that the parties will conduct testing on chemical substances to fill an EPA-identified need under the Toxic Substances Control Act. EPA stated that while it anticipated that the timeline for completing an Agreement would be 50 weeks, the average timeframe has been 2 years, with 2 years for negotiations. Consequently, EPA proposes to change when and how to initiate negotiations and to insert a firm deadline at which negotiations will terminate. EPA also proposes changes to make it clear that there is one Enforceable Consent Agreement negotiation procedure applicable to all circumstances. EPA stated that the changes are meant to increase the efficiency and flexibility of the Agreement process.

To read the proposed rule and instructions for submitting public comments, please click here.