A Practical Understanding of the Polymer ... - Keller Heckman

A Practical Understanding of the Polymer Exemption Under TSCA
exemption. We hope that the guidance provided below will materially assist you
with not making an error the first and every time this exemption is invoked.
I. Polymer Exemption Requirements
Like the original exemption, the amended exemption has three types of
requirements: (1) a polymer definition, (2) exclusions, and (3) conditions. In our
experience, the conditions are most likely to limit the availability of the exemption,
so we address the conditions first, even though in the exemption regulation they
appear last.
A. Paragraph (e) Conditions
Three alternative conditions are provided in paragraphs (e)(1), (e)(2), and
(e)(3) of 40 C.F.R. § 723.250. Basically, paragraphs (e)(1) and (e)(2) apply to two
non-overlapping ranges of molecular weight. Paragraph (e)(3), is a special case
condition; it applies to certain polyesters and has no explicit molecular weight
requirement. Because it is the simplest of the three and, if applicable, eliminates
the need to satisfy more onerous requirements, its applicability is preferable and
should be considered first. Due to its simplicity, (e)(3) is also easy to use or eliminate.
If your candidate substance has no ester linkages in it or its precursors contain
any atomic elements other than carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, silicon, or chlorine,
move on to (e)(1) and (e)(2).
1. Condition (e)(3)
Paragraph (e)(3) applies to polyesters. To be eligible under (e)(3), polymers
must satisfy a minimal polyester definition. The other (e)(3) requirement is that
polyesters must be manufactured from a list of acceptable reactants. The amended
list of acceptable reactants excludes some that were originally listed without
CASRNs, but it includes more reactants than were on the 1984 list. Please note that
every one of the precursors on the list may not be listed on the Chemical Substance
Inventory (Inventory), but they must be so listed or manufactured under an applicable
TSCA section 5 exclusion or exemption from premanufacture notification.
The list of acceptable reactants is given in the table at 40 C.F.R. § 723.250(e)(3).
A useful general observation, when considering whether your reactants are listed
(e)(3) precursors, is that all of the reactants on the list contain only the atomic elements
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and silicon, with one exception. There is one listed
precursor that consists of the hydrolysis products of reactants that include the element
chlorine. Therefore, chlorine might remain in this precursor and in the polyesters created
from it. For example, without consulting the list, one knows that a precursor that
contains nitrogen, fluorine, phosphorus, or sulfur obviates the (e)(3) condition
because there is no listed precursor that contains these atomic elements.
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