Fifth Circuit Vacates EPA’s TSCA Risk Management Rule For Methylene Chloride

Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit issued its decision in East Fork Enterprises, Inc. v. EPA, Case No. 24-60227 (5th Cir.) vacating EPA’s TSCA section 6(a) risk management rule for methylene chloride as well as the underlying determination of unreasonable risk. This decision is likely to have extensive impacts on EPA’s administration of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Five key takeaways from this decision are outlined below.

Key Takeaways

1.“Whole Chemical” Approach to Risk Evaluations

The Fifth Circuit held that EPA “lacked legal authority under TSCA to determine that a chemical or substance poses unreasonable risk ‘as a whole’ rather than to evaluate each of its conditions of use.” A return to the “condition of use” approach to conducting risk evaluations and making risk determinations was anticipated (as it was part of EPA’s proposed revisions to the Risk Evaluation framework rule), but the court’s decision all but solidifies this approach and raises questions about what is