The EPA has proposed a Significant New Use Rule that directly affects how mixed metal oxide cathode materials move through battery supply chains. TSCA SNUR 26-2 compliance now matters to any manufacturer, importer, or processor that touches lithium battery cathode active materials, because once finalized, the rule extends strict consent-order restrictions from four original PMN submitters to everyone handling the same substances. This guide explains what the rule covers, who is affected, the technical obligations, and how to prepare before enforcement begins.

The rule remains a proposed rule as of publication. No Significant New Use Notice obligation exists yet, but the direction of travel is clear, and preparation now reduces disruption later.

If you want to understand your current exposure, you can request a compliance risk assessment to map which suppliers and materials fall in scope.

Key Takeaways

📌 EPA proposed TSCA SNUR 26-2 on April 24, 2026, covering two generic mixed metal oxide (MMO) cathode active materials used in lithium-ion batteries.

⏳ The comment period closed July 10, 2026 after a 45-day extension, and 12 comments were received. No final rule has been issued yet.

⚠️ Once finalized, any manufacturer, importer, or processor must file a Significant New Use Notice (SNUN) at least 90 days before a designated new use.

📊 SNUN submissions carry a $37,000 user fee for large businesses and $6,480 for small businesses, with total estimated costs of $45,496 and $14,976.

🏭 The rule reaches battery makers, importers, and, critically, recyclers, because the article exemption ends once a battery is shredded or processed.

🔗 Air release limits aggregate across all cobalt-containing MMO substances at a single site, so facility-wide exposure must be managed, not just per-product.

🤖 Substance-level tracking across BOMs and suppliers is the core challenge, and this is where automated compliance platforms provide leverage.

What Is the TSCA SNUR 26-2 Proposed Rule

A Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) is issued under Section 5(a)(2) of the Toxic Substances Control Act. It lets the EPA designate specific activities as "significant new uses," which then require advance notice before anyone can begin them.

SNUR 26-2 was signed on April 21, 2026 and published on April 24, 2026 at 91 FR 22075. It sits in 40 CFR Part 721, adding two new sections, 721.12219 and 721.12220.

The mechanism is important. Four PMN submitters already operate under TSCA Section 5(e) consent orders for these battery cathode substances. Those orders impose exposure controls and release restrictions. The SNUR takes those same restrictions and applies them to everyone else. Any handling of the substances outside those protective measures becomes a "significant new use" that requires notice.

This is a common pattern in EPA's new-chemicals program. As the agency explains, following a TSCA order with a SNUR ensures all manufacturers and processors are held to the same standard, not only the original order party. For context on the broader federal chemical framework, see Certivo's TSCA framework overview.

Which Substances the Rule Covers

The rule covers two generic mixed metal oxide cathode active materials. Their specific chemical identities are Confidential Business Information, so no CAS numbers are published.

Both substances carry identical hazard assessments. EPA identified concerns for carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, specific target organ toxicity, dermal and respiratory sensitization, genetic toxicity, and neurotoxicity, and predicted aquatic toxicity at concentrations of 1 to 5 ppb.

Additional PMNs for the same substances are referenced in the rule and align to the same sections. For 721.12219: P-23-120, P-25-93, P-25-125, P-25-135, and P-25-145. For 721.12220: P-23-122, P-24-180, and P-25-144. This matters for BOM substance and threshold management, because a supplier operating under any of these PMNs may already be inside the regulated set. These materials are chemically close to standard NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) cathodes, so most modern lithium-ion battery programs should assume potential relevance until proven otherwise. Related reading: Certivo's guide to the energy storage and battery regulatory landscape.

TSCA SNUR 26-2 covered battery cathode substances and PMN numbers

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Who Must Comply and What Triggers a SNUN

Once the rule is finalized, the obligation reaches manufacturers, importers (import counts as manufacture under TSCA), and processors. Recordkeeping requirements under 40 CFR 721.125(a) through (k) apply to all three.

The trigger is a designated significant new use. If a covered party intends to conduct one, it must submit a Significant New Use Notice to EPA at least 90 days before starting the activity. Manufacturing or processing for that new use cannot begin until EPA has reviewed the notice and made a determination.

SNUN Submission Requirements

• 📄 Form: EPA Form 7710-25, generated using e-PMN software

• 📊 User fee: $37,000 for large businesses, $6,480 for qualifying small businesses

• 📊 Total estimated cost: $45,496 large, $14,976 small (fee plus preparation)

• ⏳ Burden estimate: 30 to 170 hours per submission

These figures make one point plain. A single missed in-scope activity is not a minor administrative event, it is a 90-day gate plus a five-figure cost and a hold on production. This is why BOM-level material mapping and supplier data collection need to be in place before, not after, the final rule. Certivo's chemical and hazmat compliance solution is built to flag in-scope substances at the part level.

Key Technical Restrictions

The protective measures carried from the consent orders are specific and measurable. Compliance engineers should treat these as design and operational constraints, not paperwork.

Respiratory Protection Limits

Before exposure monitoring results are available, workers with potential inhalation exposure must use a NIOSH-certified respirator with an assigned protection factor of at least 1,000. After monitoring, the required APF follows the 8-hour time-weighted average concentration.

⚠️ A critical condition sits under this table. An APF below 50 is only permitted when the substance contains 3% or less cobalt by weight. Higher-cobalt formulations cannot rely on the lower protection tiers.

Air Release, Dust Control, and Disposal

📌 Air release is a significant new use if the 14-day rolling average at the property boundary exceeds 1.3E-4 mg/m³, measured individually or in aggregate with other cobalt-containing MMO substances at the site.

📌 Dust controls must achieve a minimum combined capture and control efficiency of 99%.

📌 Disposal must use a RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste landfill, or incineration where the ash goes to a Subtitle C landfill. Release to water is restricted.

The aggregation rule is the point most facilities underestimate. Because the air limit combines all cobalt-containing MMO substances at a single site, this is a facility-wide EHS question, not a per-material one. That is a classic multi-jurisdiction EHS and BOM threshold problem, and it is where a centralized materials and environmental compliance system earns its place.

Battery Labeling Requirements

Labeling applies even inside the article exemption. Battery labels must be durable enough to last the life of the battery, cannot be removable without defacing them, must be reapplied if a battery is repackaged, and must state that the battery contains substances subject to TSCA restrictions, including during recycling and reclamation.

TSCA SNUR battery cathode respiratory protection factor threshold breakdown

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The Article Exemption and Where It Ends

The article exemption is available, with two important limits. First, battery labeling requirements still apply. Second, and more consequential, the exemption ends the moment an article is shredded or otherwise processed so that dust could be generated or the substance released.

This puts battery recycling, shredding, and black-mass operations squarely in scope. A finished battery cell may be exempt in commerce, but the recycler that breaks it down is handling the regulated substance again. Any company with take-back, reverse-logistics, or reclamation activity should treat those operations as potential SNUN triggers. Multi-tier supply chain transparency is essential here, because the risk sits at end-of-life partners many companies do not track closely.

Export and Import Obligations

Two separate timelines apply.

• ⏳ Export notification under TSCA Section 12(b) already applies to exports on or after May 26, 2026. A one-time notice is required for the first export to each country.

• 📌 Import certification under TSCA Section 13 applies only after the SNUR becomes final.

Companies with global battery-material flows should review export activity now, because the export notification obligation does not wait for the final rule. Certivo's trade and customs compliance solution helps align these obligations with shipping activity.

Industries and Supply Chains Affected

The rule's formal applicability list names chemical manufacturers and petroleum refineries, plus importers and exporters. In practice, any sector that manufactures, imports, processes, uses, or recycles these cathode materials should assess exposure. That reaches:

🏭 Battery cell and pack manufacturing

🏭 Electric vehicles and energy storage systems

🏭 Consumer electronics

🔗 Battery recycling, reclamation, and black-mass processing

🔗 Importers and distributors of cells and packs

🏭 Advanced materials, aerospace, defense, and medical devices that integrate these cells

For sector-specific context, see Certivo's pages for electronics manufacturing and automotive manufacturing.

Compliance Risks and Enforcement Exposure

The core exposure is operational, not just regulatory. A significant new use conducted without a filed SNUN, once the rule is final, is a TSCA violation with production-stop consequences and civil penalty risk.

Audit exposure comes in several forms, and each expects different evidence:

• Regulatory inspections by EPA focus on whether controls, monitoring, labeling, and notices exist and are documented.

• Customer audits, especially OEM-driven ones in automotive and electronics, increasingly ask suppliers to prove substance-level control.

• Certification audits under ISO 14001 or IATF 16949 look at systematic process control and records.

No platform makes an organization audit-proof, and no software eliminates findings. The realistic goal is audit-ready: reducing surprises and shortening response time. That depends on continuous audit-ready documentation, time-stamped declarations, and the ability to retrieve the point-in-time state of a material or supplier when an auditor asks. Certivo supports this through audit readiness across frameworks.

Timeline and What Happens Next

Based on currently available regulatory guidance, the SNUN obligation is not active until a final rule publishes. The prudent posture is to prepare during this window rather than wait for the effective date. Regulatory intelligence and horizon scanning should track the docket for the final rule.

Compliance Preparation Checklist

✅ Identify suppliers providing mixed metal oxide or NMC cathode materials

✅ Determine whether any supplier operates under the referenced PMNs

✅ Map covered substances to specific products and BOMs

✅ Review export activity against TSCA Section 12(b) notification requirements

✅ Assess recycling, shredding, and black-mass operations for SNUN triggers

✅ Prepare durable battery labeling that survives repackaging

✅ Evaluate facility-wide air emissions on an aggregated cobalt-MMO basis

✅ Assign an owner to monitor EPA for the final rule

You can pair this with a Customer Audit Readiness Scorecard to benchmark documentation completeness and response time before an auditor or OEM asks.

How AI and Automation Support TSCA Compliance

The hard part of this rule is not understanding it, it is knowing where these substances sit across thousands of parts and suppliers, and proving it on demand.

This is where an AI-native compliance platform changes the economics. Certivo acts as a centralized compliance data backbone, and its regulatory intelligence engine, CORA, connects rule changes to the parts and suppliers they touch.

🤖 AI document parsing: CORA reads supplier declarations, safety data sheets, and certificates, extracting substance data instead of relying on manual entry. See Certivo's features.

🔗 BOM-level intelligence: substances are mapped to specific products, so an in-scope cathode material is flagged at the part level, not discovered during an audit. Explore track compliance by BOM.

📊 Automated supplier data collection: structured supplier portals replace email chains and reduce the risk of missing declarations. See streamline supplier documentation.

📌 CORA-powered regulatory intelligence: the platform monitors changes like the pending final rule and alerts teams before obligations take effect, supporting a shift from reactive checks to continuous compliance monitoring. See manage compliance risk proactively.

For a broader view of how automation handles TSCA obligations at scale, see Certivo's analysis of AI-driven TSCA Section 8(a)(7) compliance.

AI compliance workflow mapping TSCA SNUR changes to battery BOM parts

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Executive Conclusion

TSCA SNUR 26-2 compliance is a near-term planning priority for any organization in the lithium-ion battery value chain. The rule is still proposed, the SNUN obligation is not yet active, and that is precisely the window to prepare. The substances behave like standard NMC cathodes, the article exemption collapses at recycling, and the air-release limit aggregates across a whole site, so the exposure is broader than it first appears.

The organizations that will absorb the final rule without production holds are those that already know where these materials sit, can produce point-in-time evidence, and monitor the docket automatically. That is a data and automation problem before it is a legal one.

To understand your exposure across products and suppliers, book a compliance risk assessment or speak with a compliance specialist.