Will the Politization of the EPA Continue?

In the coming days, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to issue its final rule on perchloroethylene (PCE) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

As Pinpoint previously noted earlier this month, PCE is used:

• In the processes that go into gas blends that make up 45% of the gasoline pool in the United States, making the refining process safer, keeping gas prices down, and securing millions of jobs in the oil and natural gas industry.
• In the manufacturing of refrigerants that lower global warming potential, known as hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs);
• In the production of protective skin for planes used by NASA, U.S. military, and commercial airplane manufacturers; and

Should the EPA’s final rule effectively serve as a de facto ban on PCE, it would inhibit our ability to grow our economy and power our future.

Back in April of this year, the EPA finalized a ban on most uses of the chemical methylene chloride under TSCA. However, the Biden administration EPA gave away exemptions for uses that serve the White House’s political priorities, including:

• Use in the production of refrigerant chemicals that are important in efforts to phase down climate-damaging hydrofluorocarbons under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act;
• Production of battery separators for electric vehicles; and
• Use in plastic and rubber manufacturing, including polycarbonate production. Interfacial polycarbonates are used by domestic motor vehicle manufacturers as part of the housing for the battery packs for electric vehicles.

The Biden administration has not shied away from its affinity to address climate change or promote EVs, even as auto manufacturers are scaling back EV production amid stagnant consumer demand.

Meanwhile, other less politically critical industries and small businesses, who use 50% of methylene chloride in the U.S. currently, are facing the full brunt of the ban, like furniture refinishers, who will only be able to continue using the chemical for five years.

The EPA’s final rule on methylene chloride was a carve-out to further push Biden’s priorities while condemning the use of the chemical for industries not as politically important to the administration.  

It will be interested to see how the EPA crafts their final rule on PCE. Will they follow the science (as they see it), or grant exemptions to those that line up with the administration’s priorities or play the DC insiders’ game?