JBK
CONTACTS:
Dale Kemery
kemery.dale@epa.gov
202-564-7839
202-564-4355
Enesta Jones
jones.enesta@epa.gov
202-564-7873
202-564-4355
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2010
EPA Increases Transparency on Chemical Risk Information
Action part of continued comprehensive reform of toxic substance laws
WASHINGTON — As part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s commitment to
strengthen and reform chemical management, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a new policy to increase the
public’s access to information on chemicals. Starting today, EPA has
announced its intention to reject a certain type of confidentiality
claim, known as Confidential Business Information (CBI), on the identity
of chemicals. The chemicals that will be affected by this action are
those that are submitted to EPA with studies that show a substantial
risk to people's health and the environment and have been previously
disclosed on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Inventory.
This action represents another step to use the agency’s authority under
the existing TSCA to the fullest extent possible, recognizing EPA’s
strong belief that the 1976 law is both outdated and in need of reform.
“Assuring the safety of chemicals is one of Administrator Jackson's top
priorities for EPA's future,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator
for EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. “The
American people are entitled to transparent, accessible information on
chemicals that may pose a risk to their health or the environment. We
will continue taking steps that increase transparency and assure the
safety of chemicals in our products, our environment and our bodies.”
Under TSCA, companies may claim a range of sensitive, proprietary
information as CBI. Under Section 8(e) of TSCA, companies that
manufacture, process, or distribute chemicals are required to
immediately provide notice to EPA if they learn that a chemical presents
a substantial risk of injury to health or the environment. The Section
8(e) reports are made available on EPA’s Web site. However, until today,
companies would routinely claim confidentiality for the actual identity
of the chemical covered by the Section 8(e) submission, so the public
posting of the information would not include the name of the chemical.
The new policy announced today ends this practice for chemicals on the
public portion of the TSCA Inventory. This new policy will increase the
amount of information available by granting the public access to the
chemical identification information submitted, along with other health
and safety data under Section 8(e).
In the coming months, EPA intends to announce additional steps to
further increase transparency of chemical information.
EPA’s new policy on TSCA Section 8(e) submissions is being published in
the Federal Register.
More information on the new policy:
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/tsca8e/More information on EPA’s principles for comprehensive TSCA reform:
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/principles.htmlR016
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