EPA delays bans on certain uses of 3 toxic chemicals

The Environmental Protection Agency will indefinitely postpone bans on certain uses of three toxic chemicals found in consumer products, according to an update of the Trump administration’s regulatory plans.

Critics said the reversal demonstrated the agency’s increasing reluctance to use enforcement powers granted to it last year by Congress under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is “blatantly ignoring Congress’ clear directive to the agency to better protect the health and safety of millions of Americans by more effectively regulating some of the most dangerous chemicals known to man,” said Sen. Tom Carper, DDel., the ranking minority member on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee.

The EPA declined to comment. In a news release earlier this month, the agency wrote that its “common-sense, balanced approach carefully protects both public health and the environment while curbing unnecessary regulatory burdens that stifle economic growth for communities across the country.”

Agency officials dropped prohibitions against certain uses of two chemicals from the administration’s Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, which details short- and long-term plans of the federal agencies. The third ban was dropped in the spring edition of that report.

The proposed bans targeted methylene chloride and N-methylpyrrolidone, or NMP, ingredients in paint strippers, and trichloroethylene, or TCE, used as a spot cleaner in dry-cleaning and as a degreasing agent.