in effect
This is an EPA notice (not a new rule) that extends a pause it had already placed on part of its December 2024 regulation of trichloroethylene (TCE), a toxic solvent. Acting under Section 705 of the Administrative Procedure Act, EPA is holding off enforcement of certain provisions while courts review the underlying rule. It directs that the delayed provisions stay on hold until that litigation ends.
The 2024 rule bans most uses of TCE, but it granted “Section 6(g) exemptions” that let a few specific uses continue if they follow workplace safety conditions. This notice postpones the effective date of those workplace conditions. Earlier notices had pushed the date back in fixed steps (to June 2025, then August, November, February 2026, and May 18, 2026); instead of naming another calendar date, EPA now delays them “until the conclusion of judicial review” — an open-ended pause tied to the case, not the clock. As of May 18, 2026, the conditions on each Section 6(g) exemption are suspended, and EPA says it will publish a future notice announcing the new effective date. The rest of the 2024 TCE rule is not changed by this document.
The direct effect falls on companies holding Section 6(g) exemptions and their workers — for example, battery-separator makers and manufacturers using TCE as a processing aid in specialty microporous sheet material, whose required workplace protections are not yet in force. The parties in the ongoing Third Circuit case (USW v. U.S. EPA, No. 25-1055) — including industry petitioners such as Microporous, PPG, and the Alliance for a Strong U.S. Battery Sector, and labor and environmental groups on the other side — are affected as the delay preserves the status quo during their court fight.