The Nickel Report

On April 23, 2026, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of a publicly accessible list of confidential business information (CBI) claims submitted by companies 10 years ago that are scheduled to expire under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The list includes 293 CBI claims that will expire between June 22, 2026, and July 31, 2026. EPA will add to the list on a monthly basis as CBI claims continue to approach their expiration dates. In addition, EPA intends to directly notify the original submitter of each expiring CBI claim via the agency’s electronic document system, the Central Data Exchange (CDX). Companies that submitted TSCA CBI claims between the time when TSCA was amended on June 22, 2016, and July 31, 2026, should carefully review this list and monitor their CDX accounts, verify whether any of their CBI claims are included, and prepare to submit extension requests to maintain critical CBI protections. These extension requests must be made no later than 30 days prior to the expiration of the CBI claim. Companies who fail to renew expiring CBI claims risk losing protection from disclosure of their confidential information.

Background

TSCA Section 14 does not provide a definition of CBI, but it states that EPA cannot disclose information that is protected from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4), which is trade secret and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and is privileged or confidential. EPA indicates on its website that it views TSCA CBI as proprietary information considered confidential to the submitter, the release of which would cause substantial business injury to the owner. Commonly protected data include specific chemical names, CAS numbers, molecular structures, production volumes, facility locations, and specific uses. When a CBI claim is successfully asserted, the underlying information is protected from public disclosure for a set period, with certain limited exceptions. When that period expires, EPA may make the claimed information public without further notice, unless a timely, properly substantiated extension request is approved.

The 2016 amendments to TSCA (the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21^st Century Act) introduced a 10-year expiration date on CBI claims, requiring companies to re-assert their confidentiality claims after 10 years to maintain protection. Under TSCA Section 14(e), most CBI claims will expire 10 years from the date of the original submission. For claims involving the specific chemical identity of a substance, the expiration is 10 years after the first submitted CBI claim for the chemical identity by any submitter after June 22, 2016. This means that subsequent submitters for the same substance may have claims that expire less than 10 years from their own submission date.

As a result, CBI claims submitted by companies after June 22, 2016, will begin to expire on a rolling basis starting June 22, 2026, unless substantiated extension requests for those claims are timely submitted. EPA’s April 23 list represents the first tranche of CBI claims set to expire.

Expiration Notification and Extension Requests

Under TSCA, EPA is required to notify submitters of expiring CBI claims at least 60 days before expiration. The agency is notifying claimants by publishing lists on its website and sending direct notices via CDX. For CBI claims for specific chemical identities, submitters should consult the TSCA Inventory for expiration dates of chemical identities (under the “EXP” column on the Inventory).

Once notified of expiration, a company may request an extension of its claim for up to an additional 10 years. All extension requests must be made electronically by filing a substantiated TSCA Section 14(e) CBI Claim Extension Request in CDX no later than 30 days before the claim expiration date. The substantiation must include a supporting statement and certification that the submitter has taken reasonable measures to protect the CBI, that disclosure is not required by law, that disclosure would cause substantial competitive harm, and that the information is not readily discoverable by reverse engineering.

EPA has stated it will review and either grant or deny each extension request by the expiration date of the CBI claim. If an extension is granted, the information will remain protected for up to 10 additional years. If denied, EPA may make the information public; the agency must notify the submitter in writing of the reasons for denial at least 30 days before the intended disclosure. The only recourse for a company seeking to challenge an EPA denial of a CBI claim is to bring an action in federal court under TSCA Section 19.

What Companies Should Be Doing Now

• Be Proactive. If EPA provides the minimum 60-day notice before claim expiration, submitters will have just 30 days to submit their extension request(s). Thus, it is important for companies to proactively confirm the expiration date for their CBI claims and regularly check their CDX accounts and EPA’s live list well ahead of those expiration dates.
• Verify Information. EPA previously announced that it will not be verifying whether company contact information from when the claim was made (i.e., 10 years ago) is still accurate, nor is the agency requesting confirmation of receipt of expiration notifications. Therefore, companies should verify their CDX account information is current to avoid missing notifications. Companies should also check EPA’s public lists because it is possible that they will not receive direct notifications from EPA if the company individual representative who submitted the original request is no longer with the company.
• Allow Time to Confirm. Companies may encounter challenges verifying information for CBI claims made 10 years ago. Changes in ownership, leadership or staff, office location, IT/databases, file retention practices, and so on can make this task more complicated than anticipated. Companies should budget extra time to review their records of submissions made on or after June 22, 2016.
• Evaluate Potential Exemptions. While claims for most information submitted under TSCA as confidential are subject to expiration, certain information may be exempt from substantiation requirements or from expiration. Broadly, this includes specific process information, marketing and sales data, supplier or customer identities, full mixture compositions, specific use or function information, and production or import volumes. Companies should evaluate whether any of their claimed CBI may be exempted.

Proactivity and internal planning will be integral to managing upcoming CBI expirations and avoiding unintended disclosures. Such disclosures can have significant business consequences, especially for companies with multiple or highly sensitive CBI claims. Companies should consult with counsel as early as possible to navigate CBI expiration, extension request substantiation, and related issues.