Coronavirus Government Response Update—EPA Takes Action to Assure Disinfectant Availability

Welcome to the Coronavirus Government Response Update. This information is intended to keep ISSA members up to date on fast-moving government affairs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other public policy issues important to the cleaning industry. Today’s update touches on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) action to assure the availability of disinfectant products for use against the novel coronavirus, U.S. Treasury Department and Small Business Administration (SBA) beginning a public-private mobilization effort to distribute funds, U.S. senators urging a coronavirus delay to the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal start date, and more.

EPA Takes Action to Assure Availability of Disinfectant Products for Use Against the Novel Coronavirus
The EPA is taking further action to help ease the production and availability of EPA-registered disinfectants. The agency will temporarily allow manufacturers of certain already-registered EPA disinfectants to obtain certain active ingredients from any source of suppliers without checking with the agency first. This only applies to products on EPA’s List N: Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2. This action comes after last week’s announcement of EPA’s similar action on certain inert ingredients.

Treasury and SBA Begin Unprecedented Public-Private Mobilization Effort to Distribute Funds
Following U.S President Donald Trump’s signing of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that the SBA and Treasury Department have initiated a robust mobilization effort of banks and other lending institutions to provide small businesses with the capital they need. The CARES Act establishes a new US$349 billion Paycheck Protection Program. The program will provide much-needed relief to millions of small businesses so they can sustain their businesses and keep their workers employed.

U.S. Senators Urge Coronavirus Delay to June 1 USMCA Trade Deal Start Date
A bipartisan group of 19 U.S. senators urged the Trump administration to push back the planned June 1 start date for the new USMCA trade pact, saying the short lead time would add to pressures on U.S. companies due to the spread of the coronavirus. In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the senators, led by Republican Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking Democrat Ron Wyden, said the new trade deal, which replaces the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), should not enter into force until Mexico and Canada are in full compliance with their commitments.

Other links of interest

• ISSATV: How U.S. Governments Are Responding to COVID-19
• ISSA Essential Business Resources
• Federal Coronavirus Legislative Package 3 Summary
• How the Treasury Department Is Taking Action
• S. Department of Labor: COVID-19 and the Workplace