The Environmental Protection Agency is setting new significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 329 per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have not been imported, manufactured or processed for many years and are designated as inactive on the TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory, it said in a final rule released Jan. 10. As a result of the SNURs, anyone planning to manufacture, import or process any of the chemical substances for an activity designated as a significant new use by this rule are required to notify EPA at least 90 days in advance. Importers of chemicals subject to these SNURs will need to certify their compliance with the SNUR requirements, and exporters of these chemical substances will now become subject to export notification requirements. The final rule takes effect March 11.
The Census Bureau on Jan. 2 updated its tables of Schedule B and Harmonized Tariff Schedule codes that are no longer valid for the Automated Export System to reflect changes made to the codes for 2024, the agency said in an email to industry. AES will accept shipments with outdated codes during a 30-day grace period that began when the codes expired Dec. 31, Census said. Reporting an outdated code after the grace period will “result in a fatal error.”
DHS is drafting a proposed rule that could mandate electronic export manifest for all cargo leaving the U.S. by rail, according to the agency’s recently released fall 2023 regulatory agenda. The proposed rule would require filers of that electronic export information to “identify the parties eligible to transmit information, describe the time frames prior to departure of the train in which the information is due, and identify an initial filing that must occur 24 hours prior to departure from the port of export while requiring that remaining data be transmitted at least two hours prior to such departure.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration is setting 2024 quotas for the manufacture and importation of controlled substances in Schedules I and II of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in a notice released Dec. 29. Substances not listed in the table included in DEA's notice will have a quota of zero. DEA is also setting quotas for the List I chemicals ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine and pseudoephedrine. The order is effective Jan. 3.