State-Federal Relationship

The section of this rule on preemption has been revised and is now titled “State-Federal Relationship”. States and political subdivisions will not have the authority to establish or continue to enforce actions to develop information that is duplicative to the federal requirements, restrictions on chemical substances that counteract federal findings, or an action requiring the notification of significant new use of a chemical substance. The administrator must define the scope of all risk evaluations, including start and end dates. During this period, no state or political subdivision may prohibit or restrict the use of high-priority chemicals. States and political subdivisions will still have the authority to create or continue to enforce rules in the following cases:

• A rule is adopted under the authority of another federal law.
• A rule implements a reporting requirement for a chemical substance that is not otherwise required by TSCA legislation.
• A rule is adopted that is related to water quality, air quality, or waste treatment/disposal.

If a state has an identical requirement to the federal TSCA legislations, that state may be subject to penalties. In certain cases where state legislation has an effect on health, the environment, or the economy, exceptions may be granted. In order to be exempted, states must submit a waiver, which must be granted or denied within a specified time frame. If the Agency fails to make a determination within this time frame, the state rule in question will be considered to no longer be an existing rule. If a waiver is granted, it will remain in effect until the relevant risk evaluation is published. Once a determination is made on a waiver, any person may file a petition for review in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. This must be done within 60 days of the date on which a determination on a state or political subdivision of a state is made. This Act and its requirements do not preempt or displace state or federal rules which create a remedy for civic relief or rules which permit action on personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, or any other type of liability.