Several key issues have emerged as pivotal in ongoing efforts to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Progress on these complex issues is central to the success of TSCA reform. To foster further discussion of these critical topics, the Environmental Law Institute convened a series of issue-specific lunchtime teleconferences during the summer and fall of 2011 to provide a forum for focused dialogue among key players. The first panel of the series, held on June 30, 2011, set the stage for the series by examining the status of TSCA reform in the larger context of the U.S.

For nearly 40 years, EPA allowed application of pesticides directly to or over waters of the United States without an NPDES permit and instead relied on the FIFRA registration process to regulated such pesticide use. Following mixed results from the courts regarding the legality of this practice, the pesticide industry filed a petition for rulemaking and obtained a favorable rulemaking outcome. Nonetheless, the pesticide industry challenged the results of its own rulemaking petition in hopes of obtaining an even more generous rule.