TO: Interested Persons
FROM: Kevin Bromberg, Assistant Chief Counsel
David Rostker, Assistant Chief Counsel
Tabby Waqar, Assistant Chief Counsel
SUBJECT: Next SBA Environmental Roundtable Meeting
The next U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy Environmental Roundtable will be held to discuss the following topic at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 30, 2018. Please send an RSVP to david.rostker@sba.gov. Please indicate whether you are attending in person, by webconference or by teleconference. For those requiring remote access, information will be sent out to you when you RSVP.
Agenda
10:00 – 11:30 AM User Fees for the Administration of the Toxic Substances Control Act
Mark Hartman, Acting Deputy Director for Management, Office of Pollution Prevent and Toxics, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Khem Sharma, Chief, Office of Size Standards, U.S. Small Business Administration
11:30 – noon March 2018 Update of Decision on Definition of Solid Waste
Donald Patterson, Beveridge & Diamond PC, Principal
Roundtable meetings are open to all interested persons, with the exception of the press, in order to facilitate open and frank discussion about the impacts of Federal regulatory activities on small entities. Agendas and presentations are available to all, including the press. Anyone who wants to receive roundtable agendas or presentations, or to be included in the distribution list, should forward such requests to kevin.bromberg@sba.gov. The purpose of these Roundtable meetings is to exchange opinions, facts and information and to obtain the attendees’ individual views and opinions regarding small business concerns. The meetings are not intended to achieve or communicate any consensus positions of the attendees.
Issues for Discussion
March 30, 2018
User Fees for the Administration of the Toxic Substances Control Act
The amended Toxic Substance Control Act allows EPA to establish a schedule of fees to cover a portion of the costs associated with work under sections 4 (generally test orders), 5 (new chemical reviews), 6 (risk evaluations) and section 14 (review of Confidential Business Information claims). It lifted the caps on current fees and instructed EPA to set new fees specifically for small businesses.
On February 26, 2018, EPA published a proposed rule to establish these fees. As part of the rulemaking, EPA is proposing a size standard for lower fees of $91M in average revenue over the previous three years. In general, the proposed fees are significantly higher than any current fees.
Comments on this rule are due on April 27, 2018. The rule text and docket are available on regulations.gov.
EPA staff will present this rule for discussion. The SBA Office of Size Standards will provide information about the SBA process for establishing size standards and discuss its consultation with EPA on this proposed rule. The discussion will also include factors relevant to other size standards determinations that EPA must make in the near future under other provisions of TSCA.
March 6, 2018 Reconsideration: DC Circuit Court Decision Revising EPA Definition of Solid Waste Rule
In the 2015 Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) Final Rule, EPA modified the 2008 DSW rule with the goal of ensuring it protects human health and the environment from the mismanagement of hazardous secondary materials intended for recycling. At the same time, the rule was intended to promote additional recycling by adopting an alternative set of less stringent requirements to the conventional hazardous waste regulations for these facilities. The DSW rule affects the manufacturing sector, which is dominated by small manufacturers. The DC Circuit reviewed petitions by both industry and environmental parties. The Court ruled initially in July 2017, and issued an opinion earlier this month, clarifying that decision, making separate modifications sought by industry petitioners and EPA.
This case has potential implications for both hazardous and nonhazardous waste recyclers.
Don Patterson represented the National Mining Association in this litigation, and has represented small businesses in litigation and EPA rulemakings.
For more information about the 2015 DSW rule, see EPA’s website: https://www.epa.gov/hw/legitimate-hazardous-waste-recycling-versus-sham-recycling