EPA Ban on Sale of Methylene Chloride Goes into Effect. The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule in April 2024 banning most commercial and consumer uses of methylene chloride, including products containing methylene chloride, which is known to cause cancer from inhalation or dermal exposure. The ban includes use of methylene chloride in welding anti-spatter applications.
Methylene chloride is also used for aerosol degreasing and paint and coating brush cleaners, in commercial applications such as adhesives and sealants, and in industrial settings for making other chemicals.
EPA has published a Guide to Complying with the Methylene Chloride Regulation, which contains information for distributors who sell products containing methylene chloride. EPA also has a Risk Management webpage and a Fact Sheet for methylene chloride compliance.
According to the timetable on page 25 of the EPA guidance document, the following deadlines apply:
February 3, 2025— After February 3, 2025, all persons are prohibited from distributing in commerce (including making available) methylene chloride, including any methylene chloride-containing products, to retailers for any use. In other words, distributors cannot sell methylene chloride products to any retailers after February 3, 2025.
May 5, 2025— After May 5, 2025, all retailers are prohibited from distributing in commerce (including making available) methylene chloride, including any methylene chloride-containing products, for any use. This means that retailers cannot distribute methylene chloride products to any customer, including to commercial users, after May 5, 2025.
January 28, 2026— After January 28, 2026, all persons are prohibited from distributing in commerce (including making available) methylene chloride, including any methylene chloride-containing products, except for conditions of use that will continue under the Workplace Chemical Protection Program.
The definition of a “retailer” is found on page 34 of the guidance: “Any person or business entity that distributes or makes available products to consumers, including through e-commerce internet sales or distribution. Any distributor with at least one consumer end user customer is considered a retailer. A person who distributes in commerce or makes available a chemical substance or mixture solely to commercial or industrial end users or solely to commercial or industrial businesses is not considered a retailer.”
So, if you sell to at least one consumer user, you are a retailer and the May 5, 2025 deadline applies to you. If you sell solely to commercial or industrial end users, the January 28, 2026 deadline applies to you. But if you sell to any retailers, the February 3, 2025 deadline applied to you.
In addition, manufacturers, processors, and distributors are required to update Safety Data Sheets to spread awareness throughout the supply chain.
EPA Administrator Plans to Cancel Environmental Regulatory Programs. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a series of 31 major deregulatory actions that would roll back a number of requirements put in place in the Biden Administration. The affected regulations include:
- Reconsideration of light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicle regulations that provided the foundation for the Biden-Harris electric vehicle mandate (including rescinding waivers to the California Air Resources Board for its Advanced Clean Trucks and Omnibus NOx rules);
- Reconsideration of the 2009 Endangerment Finding regarding the effect of greenhouse gases on public health and safety and regulations and actions that rely on that finding;
- Reconsideration of regulations on power plants (Clean Power Plan 2.0);
- Modernizing outdated regulations on wastewater discharges for oil and gas extraction facilities to lower energy costs while supporting environmentally sustainable water reuse;
- Reconsideration of Biden-Harris regulations for the oil and gas industry under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act and Subpart W of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program;
- Reconsideration of Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards that shut down opportunities for American manufacturing and small businesses (PM 2.5 NAAQS);
- Reconsideration of multiple National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for American energy and manufacturing sectors (NESHAPs);
- Reconsideration of Biden-Harris Administration Risk Management Program rule for oil and natural gas refineries and chemical facilities;
- Overhauling the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Social Cost of Carbon” used to support and justify many environmental rulemakings;
- Working with the Army Corps of Engineers to review the definition of “waters of the United States” to ensure that a revised definition follows the law, reduces red-tape, cuts overall permitting costs, and lowers the cost of doing business in communities across the country while protecting the nation’s navigable waters from pollution;
- Redirecting enforcement resources to EPA’s core mission to relieve the economy of unnecessary bureaucratic burdens (Enforcement Discretion);
- Terminating the Environmental Justice and DEI arms of the agency (EJ/DEI); and
- Working with states and tribes to resolve backlog with State Implementation Plans and Tribal Implementation Plans under the Clean Air Act.
Most of these efforts will require the agency to complete a rulemaking to reconsider the prior decisions; any new final rule or determination must be justified by changes in scientific analysis and public policy.
In addition, Zeldin has already submitted the CARB waiver decisions to Congress for reconsideration and termination under the Congressional Review Act.
Any changes to EPA regulations will ultimately be challenged in court by States and/or environmental groups.
DOT Publishes Memorandum on Enforcement Policy. The U.S. Department of Transportation acting General Counsel Gregory Cote has released a memorandum to all of the operating administrations, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, setting out the department’s procedures and polices for conducting enforcement activities.
The general policy to provide affected parties appropriate due process in all enforcement actions in a fair and just manner, including prior public notice of both the enforcing agency’s jurisdiction over particular conduct and the legal standards applicable to that conduct. In addition , the Department should, where feasible, “foster greater private-sector cooperation in enforcement, promote information sharing with the private sector, and establish predictable outcomes for private conduct.”
The memo states that DOT’s investigative powers must be used in a manner consistent with due process, basic fairness, and respect for individual liberty and private property; investigators must not use these authorities as a game of “gotcha” with regulated entities and should follow existing statutes and regulations. Additionally, investigators should promptly disclose to the affected parties the reasons for the investigative review and any compliance issues identified or findings made in the course of the review.
Moreover, in criminal cases, agency personnel must disclose materially exculpatory evidence in the agency’s possession to the representatives of the regulated entity whose conduct is the subject of the enforcement action, without having been asked by the regulated entity.
In civil penalty cases, no civil penalties will be sought in any enforcement action except when and as supported by clear statutory authority and sufficient findings of fact. Where statutes vest the agency with discretion with regard to the amount or type of penalty sought or imposed, the penalty should reflect due regard for fairness, the scale of the violation, the violator’s knowledge and intent, and any mitigating factors (such as whether the violator is a small business).
The agency must also voluntarily share penalty calculation worksheets, manuals, charts, or other appropriate materials that sheds light on the way penalties are calculated to ensure fairness in the process and to encourage a negotiated resolution where possible.
FMCSA Medical Card Integration Rule to Go into Effect June 23, 2025. Despite being delayed twice, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration plans to implement its final rule to integrate the driver’s medical examination results into the Commercial Driver’s License database at the State level as of June 23, 2025.
The final rule, which was first published in 2015, is intended to facilitate the electronic transmission of examination results (medically qualified, medically unqualified, and voided) and additional information (e.g., corrective lenses, hearing aid, medical exemption, skill performance evaluation certificate, etc.) from examinations performed for commercial learner’s permit and commercial driver’s license applicants and holders from FMCSA’s National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners to the State Driver’s Licensing Agencies to be posted on the Commercial Driver’s License Information System driver motor vehicle record.
Under this rule:
(1) FMCSA will electronically transmit, from the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners to the State Driver License Agencies, driver identification information, examination results, and restriction information from examinations performed for holders of commercial learner’s permits or commercial driver’s licenses (both interstate and intrastate);
(2) FMCSA will electronically transmit to the SDLAs medical variance information for all commercial motor vehicle drivers;
(3) SDLAs will then post on the Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS) driver record the driver identification, examination results, and restriction information received electronically from FMCSA; and
(4) motor carriers will no longer be required to verify that CLP/CDL drivers are certified by a certified medical examiner listed on the National Registry.
Four States—Maryland, Minnesota, Texas and Utah, have already implemented this procedure.
FMCSA is planning to provide webinars and additional compliance information on its website in the near future.
In the meantime, until this rule is effective nationwide, drivers should continue holding a copy of their paper Medical Certificate in their vehicle while operating a CMV.
Rick Schweitzer
GAWDA General Counsel
(703) 946-2548
