The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Jan. 5 the process it will be using to notify manufacturers and users of certain toxic substances about imminently expiring confidential business information claims (CBI) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

Companies request CBI claims as to proprietary information or knowledge – such as manufacturing processes and chemical formulas – that could give competitors an advantage if gone unprotected. This expiration date was set in 2016 under the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which amended and modernized the TSCA, a mechanism by which the EPA can collect a variety of information relating to health and chemical safety, some of which falls under the CBI qualification.

To account for this need for confidentiality while still achieving one of the primary aims of the Lautenberg Act – increasing public transparency concerning chemical information that could potentially affect Americans’ health and safety – Congress amended the TSCA to, for the first time, have CBI claims expire while still enabling stakeholders to submit CBI claims to the EPA without fear the agency would publicly release the protected information, as it is now legally prohibited from doing. Most CBI claims expire about a decade following their submission.

The expiring CBI claims that are the focus of this week’s announcement were submitted by companies right after the TSCA was amended via the Lautenberg Act in June 2016 and therefore will expire this June.

The EPA expects to post an initial list of expiring TSCA submissions on the EPA’s TSCA CBI website. Additionally, the EPA will also send direct notices to companies with expiring CBI claims via the EPA’s electronic reporting system, the Central Data Exchange.

Those applying to extend CBI claims must do so at least 30 days prior to the CBI claim expiration date and must substantiate the justification for the extension. Affected stakeholders should keep an eye on EPA press releases, communications, and the Federal Register section addressing Expiration and Extension of CBI Claims Under the TSCA.