EPA signals delays to TSCA risk evaluation due to shutdown

As the partial shutdown of the US federal government nears the two-week mark, the EPA has announced potential delays for the first of its ten draft risk evaluations released under the reformed TSCA. The shutdown began on 22 December 2018, after Congress and President Trump reached a stalemate on both the federal budget for fiscal year 2019, and the potential stop-gap measure of a continuing resolution for temporary funding. And although the EPA had the leftover funds to continue running for a week after most other agencies ceased operations, it officially shut down on 29 December. Among the many consequences, the move means that EPA advisory committees cannot meet, which is likely to cause delay to the peer review of the first TSCA draft risk assessment for pigment violet 29.