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EPA CLARIFIES MEANING OF IMPORTED PCB’s
Release Date: 03/26/2001
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2001
EPA CLARIFIES MEANING OF IMPORTED PCB’s
Martha Casey 202-564-7842/matheny.martha@epa.gov
EPA has issued a final rule clarifying the circumstances under which polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) wastes generated in U.S. territories can be returned to the continental United States for disposal in EPA-approved facilities. PCB’s are a class of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals used primarily as fire retardants in electrical equipment and other equipment components. A provision of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) banned the manufacture, use, processing, and distribution in commerce of PCB’s unless EPA could find that a particular activity did not pose an unreasonable risk of injury to health and the environment. EPA has historically treated as imports the transfer of PCB’s from locations outside the U.S. customs territory. The agency has determined, however, that its previous interpretation of the definition of “manufacture” is not mandated by TSCA and that it results in inequitable treatment among different areas within the United States.
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