Join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 7, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. EDT for a webinar on the Agency’s proposal to ban all consumer uses and most commercial uses of methylene chloride, a chemical in commercial and consumer products known to cause serious health risks and even death.
In April, EPA announced its proposed risk management rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA is proposing prohibitions and protections, with a rapid phase-down for manufacturing, processing and distribution of methylene chloride for all consumer uses and most industrial and commercial uses, a majority of which would be fully implemented in 15 months after the rule is finalized. For industrial manufacturing, industrial processing, laboratory use, and federal uses that EPA is not proposing to prohibit, EPA proposes a workplace chemical protection program with strict exposure limits to better protect workers.
The worker chemical protection plan would require employers and others covered by the plan to comply with safety requirements within one year. They would also be required to periodically monitor their workplace to ensure that workers and others on site are not being exposed to levels of methylene chloride that would lead to an unreasonable risk.
EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed rule for methylene chloride until July 3, 2023, via docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0465 at www.regulations.gov.
This webinar will be useful for anyone looking for an overview of the proposed regulatory action or to provide input on the proposed program, including industry groups, nonprofit organizations, Tribes, and other stakeholders. EPA is particularly looking for participation from employers and workers who can give perspective on the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed requirement for worker protections.
Participants can register as listeners or to make prepared remarks. If you would like to provide remarks during the webinar, please register by May 24, 2023, at 5:00 PM EST and select “attend and make a comment” when registering. You can register to listen only up until the start of the webinar.
Details on how to access the webinar and slides will be sent to participants after registering via Eventbrite.com. Please ensure that emails from Eventbrite.com will not be blocked by your spam filter. EPA will provide copies of the presentation material on our website following the webinar.
Original source can be found here.