EPA is facing complaints from both sides over its recent rule reining in uses of methylene chloride, a widely used but deadly solvent.
Two Texas-based companies, East Fork Enterprises and Epic Paint, jointly filed what is believed to be the first petition late last week in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Sierra Club on Tuesday also filed a petition in the 9th Circuit.
Neither petition details specific complaints about the rule, which bans half of methylene chloride uses regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act. That includes all consumer uses, such as in adhesives, toys or lubricants, and in some industrial and commercial uses, which include paint stripping and plastic production.
Keith Bradley, the co-chair of the appellate and Supreme Court practice at law firm Squire Patton Boggs, representing the two companies, did not respond to requests for comment.
