A government watchdog group is petitioning EPA to phase out the use of hydrogen fluoride (HF) at oil refining facilities under its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and Clean Air Act (CAA) authorities, the latest in a series of actions to curb the use of the highly corrosive substance following several “near miss” incidents.
November 15, 2026
Maria Hegstad
Maria Hegstad is managing editor of Inside EPA’s Risk Policy Report, where she has been writing about all things chemicals, risk assessment policy and toxicology since 2008. Before joining Inside EPA, Maria reported for local newspapers in Manassas, VA, and D.C., covering courts and local government. Maria is a proud native of the “other” Washington, raised in Tacoma. She earned her BA from the College of William & Mary and her MSJ from Medill.
Archived Articles
Fearing a patchwork of strict state rules, a variety of consumer product manufacturers is urging EPA to expand its planned or ongoing risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in an effort to preempt states from regulating -- or banning -- certain chemicals’ uses.
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House Democrats’ bill to ban uses of asbestos appears to be advancing after state officials opened the door to a longer phase-out period for chlorine producers, but few involved in talks on the bill are discussing prospects that implementing any ban will eventually drive the sector to use an alternate technology that uses perflourinated chemicals.
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A pending suit over EPA’s denial of environmentalists’ petition seeking to require reporting of asbestos uses under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is testing plaintiffs’ ability to use remedies in both the toxics law and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to challenge such denials, potentially expanding plaintiffs’ litigation options.
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Three years after Congress reformed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), handing EPA a host of new authorities to regulate industrial chemicals, agency staff are struggling to meet the law’s deadlines, many rules face litigation, and states and retailers continue to lack confidence that the new regime will provide the certainty they are seeking.
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EPA has found that the ubiquitous solvent 1,4 dioxane poses risks to workers “in certain circumstances,” according to a newly released draft evaluation, opening the door to new workplace protections or limits on the chemical’s use under its revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) authority.
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Advisors reviewing EPA’s first draft chemical risk evaluation under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) have raised sharp concerns about several aspects of the draft assessment of pigment violet 29 (PV29), with some urging officials to gather more data on risks to workers and others because the draft does not support its threshold finding that the chemical doesn’t require risk management.
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Labor and other groups are urging EPA science advisors ahead of their upcoming meeting to examine whether the agency provided adequate data for its draft conclusion that pigment violet 29 (PV29) does not pose unreasonable risk to workers and other exposed populations, stepping up their long-running effort to challenge EPA’s first assessment of an existing chemical under the revised toxics law.
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Environmental and labor groups are suggesting they will sue the agency if it proceeds with its proposed training program for commercial users of paint-stripping products containing methylene chloride, charging the agency has failed to justify its approach after the Obama administration found the chemical posed unreasonable risks to workers.
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Labor unions and other groups challenging the Trump EPA’s framework rule on how the agency evaluates existing chemicals under the revised toxics law say that ongoing risks from legacy and other uses of substances currently being assessed show that they have standing to challenge the rule’s provision allowing the agency to preclude such uses from assessments.
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