Describing an unfamiliar material as either harmless or dangerous can outrun the evidence. EPA's January 12, 2017 nanoscale reporting rule takes a narrower step: it seeks known or reasonably ascertainable information about specified substances and discrete forms. It does not require new testing or assume that nanoscale materials as a class necessarily harm people or the environment. [2017-00052]

That restraint depends on the definition. Reportable substances are solid at 25 degrees Celsius and standard atmospheric pressure, include particles of 1–100 nanometers in at least one dimension, and are made or processed for distinctive size-dependent properties. Forms containing less than one percent by weight of particles in that range are excluded. The rule does not turn the presence of any tiny particle into a universal duty. [2017-00052]

The information requested includes occupational tasks, exposure, releases, protective practices and existing health and environmental information. A stewardship reading is that these details deserve to remain connected to the particular material form. A general assurance about a chemical name can obscure that distinction, just as a general alarm can imply a toxicity finding the reporting requirement does not make. [2017-00052]

The agency also changed the proposed timetable. Its April 2015 proposal contemplated six months after effectiveness for covered prior manufacturers and processors to report; the final provides one year and originally specifies May 12, 2017 effectiveness. The documents are stages of one process, not independent demonstrations of protection. Respect for affected people means explaining both the information sought and the limits of what collecting it can establish. [2017-00052][2015-07497]

Source documents

  1. Chemical Substances When Manufactured or Processed as Nanoscale Materials; TSCA Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirementshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-01-12/html/2017-00052.htm
  2. Chemical Substances When Manufactured or Processed as Nanoscale Materials; TSCA Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirementshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-04-06/html/2015-07497.htm