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There are some who maintain that Republican administrations do not prioritise the enforcement of US environmental laws and tend to give industry a pass on regulatory compliance, except in the most egregious cases. This view was likely reinforced by several core themes of candidate Trump’s campaign, which assailed “job-killing” regulations that burden American businesses and hurt the economy, coupled with President Trump’s day one executive orders, which included an immediate freeze on new federal regulations.
One might assume that these actions telegraphed a permissive nod towards relaxing US EPA enforcement goals, especially enforcement of compliance with pesky recordkeeping and reporting obligations, long the nemesis of some in the business community. This narrative, however, is fundamentally at odds with the actions of the EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), especially regarding the import of chemicals subject to TSCA. The Trump administration has demonstrated a persistent commitment to enforcing TSCA violations – as well as the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), which is not discussed further here – against chemical importers, with renewed vigour that has caught many off guard.
We have seen this in our own law practice and have commented frequently that this administration is not handing out free passes when it comes to TSCA enforcement. A recent and uniquely compelling illustration of this inconvenient truth is the case the EPA announced on 1 June, involving an administrative complaint against Wego Chemical Group and related companies (Wego) for TSCA violations.
The case is exceptional for three reasons: the stiff penalties the EPA seeks for hundreds of TSCA violations for chemicals imported from China; the fact that some of the violations include late Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) filings made in settlement of an earlier citizen action under TSCA Section 20(a); and the EPA’s meticulous review of the response to Wego’s 2020 and 2024 TSCA Section 8(a) CDR obligations and subsequent rejection of the company’s “not known or reasonably ascertainable (NKRA)” claims. Each of these points is discussed below. They all convey the same message – chemical imports under TSCA are being closely scrutinised, and non-compliance will not be tolerated.
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