STEPAN CO

a.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We have conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, as of March 31, 2026. Based on this evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures, our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of March 31, 2026, such that the information required to be disclosed in our Securities and Exchange Commission reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified by the rules and forms of the Exchange Act and is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.

b.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the quarter ended March 31, 2026 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Part II OTHER INFORMATION

SEC regulations require the Company to disclose certain information about administrative or judicial proceedings involving certain environmental matters to which a governmental authority is a party if the Company reasonably believes that such proceedings may result in monetary sanctions above a specified threshold. Pursuant to SEC regulations, the Company has adopted a threshold of $1.0 million for purposes of determining whether disclosure of any such proceedings is required. The Company believes that this threshold is reasonably designed to result in disclosure of any such proceedings that are material to its business or financial condition.

Developments in the Company's legal proceedings are described below:

On March 19, 2025, the Company received a pre-filing notice from USEPA for violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) associated with certain of the Company’s biocide products sold by a licensed distributor. USEPA assessed a civil penalty of $1.1 million, which the Company paid on July 2, 2025. As of March 31, 2026, the Company recovered the entire amount of the USEPA penalty from third parties.

There have been no other material changes to the legal proceedings disclosed in the Company’s 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K.