The Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) will hold its next environmental roundtable virtually on April 16, 2026, at 2 PM EST via Microsoft Teams. The discussion will focus on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed reconsideration of ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions standards for sterilization facilities.
This proposal could have important implications for surgical and medical instrument and appliance manufacturers, pharmaceutical preparation manufacturers, spice and extract manufacturers, dried and dehydrated food manufacturers, and packaging and labeling services.
In 2024, the EPA, for the first time, conducted a “discretionary” review of the EtO standards and considerably tightened the regulations for commercial sterilization facilities. When these standards were proposed, Advocacy warned that they “would lead to a significant number of small entities leaving the market for commercial sterilization, harming small medical device manufacturers, causing significant supply chain disruptions, and hurting patients needing sterilized medical devices.”
Date: Thursday, April 16, 2026
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET
Meeting Platform: Microsoft Teams
SBA Advocacy is an independent voice within the executive branch responsible for advancing the views of small businesses in regulatory policy across the federal government. We conduct roundtables to hear the experiences, challenges, and recommendations of small businesses, and identify alternative approaches for policy development at federal regulatory agencies. Our roundtables are largely held online to facilitate the attendance of stakeholders from a diverse range of backgrounds, industries, and geographic regions.
Roundtable meetings are open to all interested persons and are intended to facilitate an open and frank discussion about issues of interest to small businesses. These meetings are off the record and not intended for press purposes. Direct quotations of presenters or attendees may not be used without direct written approval of the person(s) making the statement. All press inquiries should be sent to chandler.baxter@sba.gov. Agendas and presentations are available to all. If you need accommodations for a disability to participate in the roundtable, please contact Nick Goldstein for assistance.
Should you have any questions or require further information, please contact Assistant Chief Counsel Nick Goldstein at nick.goldstein@sba.gov.
Visit https://advocacy.sba.gov/category/regulation/regulatory-alerts/ to comment on important proposed regulations.
Access our Regulatory Alerts to view and submit comments on important proposed regulations.