EPA Extends Compliance Deadlines for Trichloroethylene Rule
A new interim final rule issued by EPA extends certain compliance deadlines for its risk management rule for the solvent trichloroethylene (TCE). The affected compliance dates have to do with the use of TCE as a processing aid in nuclear fuel manufacturing, the disposal of TCE to wastewater by certain processors of industrial chemicals, and downstream notification, which is intended to “spread awareness throughout the supply chain of the restrictions on use of TCE under [the Toxic Substances Control Act],” according to the Federal Register.
The interim final rule also amends the text required to be present in safety data sheets for TCE and products that contain TCE. EPA says the amended text is intended to “accurately reflect the new prohibition compliance deadline for TCE used as a processing aid in the manufacture of nuclear fuel.”
EPA’s risk management rule for TCE was issued in December 2024. The rule was set to prohibit most industrial and commercial uses of TCE by Sept. 15, 2025.
In response to a May 2025 petition regarding the processing and disposal of TCE to wastewater, EPA’s new interim final rule extends the prohibition compliance date for the disposal of TCE to wastewater to Dec. 18, 2026. According to the agency, this extension applies to processors of TCE and processors and industrial and commercial users of TCE as a processing aid.
In June 2025, a nuclear fuel manufacturer contacted EPA with concerns about how the prohibition of TCE would affect their production, which the agency notes “has national security and critical use applications.” Under the interim final rule, EPA will now prohibit the use of TCE as a processing aid in nuclear fuel manufacturing—a use the agency describes as “newly identified”—on Sept. 15, 2028, instead of this month. Manufacturers and processors of TCE will now have until Dec. 16, 2025, to amend their safety data sheets to reflect the 2028 prohibition compliance deadline for the “new use” of TCE as a processing aid in the manufacture of nuclear fuel.
“These revisions are necessary to address new information presented to EPA about inadvertent oversights in the original rulemaking and serious concerns that the facilities at issue will be unable to comply with the relevant requirements by the existing deadlines,” the Federal Register notice explains.
EPA is accepting comments on its interim final rule until Oct. 17, 2025. For further details, see the Federal Register notice outlining the rule, the agency’s news release, and its webpage on risk management for TCE.