Overview of Biotechnology under TSCA

New Chemical Safety Law Enacted

On June 22, 2016, President Obama signed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which updates the Toxic Substances Control Act. Learn more about the new law, find summary information and read frequently asked questions.

Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA regulates the use of intergeneric microorganisms in commerce or commercial research. EPA considers intergeneric microorganisms to be those formed from organisms in different genera (genera is the plural of genus, which is a level in a taxonomic classification system based on the relatedness of organisms) or those microorganisms formed with synthetic DNA not from the same genus.

EPA believes that intergeneric microorganisms have a sufficiently high likelihood of expressing new traits or new combinations of traits to be termed "new" and warrant EPA review. The Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) Biotechnology Program conducts a screening program for new microorganisms under section 5 of TSCA. In 1997, EPA published regulations that fully implement its premanufacture program for microorganisms under the OPPT New Chemicals Review Program.

In this site, you will find:

To find additional information on TSCA biotechnology publications, search the EPA archive. Search EPA Archive