EPA is increasing civil penalties for all statutes it administers that call for the assessment of civil penalties. These increases are not recommendations or proposed statutory amendments, but are the result of perhaps the little known 2015 amendment to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended through 2015 ("the 2015 Act"). This Act applies to all federal agencies that have authority to assess civil penalties and not just EPA. EPA's interim final rule adjusting the level of statutory civil monetary penalties was issued June 23, 2016. It will be ...
President Obama signed a major reform of the Nation's chemical safety standards on Wednesday, June 22. The legislation amended the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, providing the first substantive changes in the 40-year old law. (The Hill: Obama Signs Chemical Safety Overhaul).
The amendments significantly change the authorities of the Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate chemicals and provide protection to the public. The goal is to provide more extensive and functional oversight of the chemical industry, but in a way that provides certainty to chemical ...