EPA’s Revised Work Plan List And New Developments In TSCA Reform Discussed At Green Chemistry Clear
The Green Chemistry Clearinghouse Conference held on September 16, 2014, in San Francisco included several interesting panels discussing topics including California Safer Consumer Products Regulations' (SCPR) recently released Work Plan, the future of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform, and the increasing push by retailers to require information from the supply chain.
Jim Jones, EPA's Assistant Administrator at the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), spoke regarding several EPA activities under TSCA, including but not limited to the schedule for risk assessments of Work Plan chemicals, the recently released proposal to redesign EPA's Design for the Environment (DfE) label, and the ChemView database providing access to health and safety data on chemicals regulated under TSCA. Jones stated EPA will be revising its list of Work Plan chemicals based on recent data indicating that production volumes of certain chemicals have decreased sufficiently to warrant EPA removing these substances for risk assessment and instead selecting other substances.
There also was discussion about another draft bill to reform TSCA to be released shortly, perhaps even this week, that many are hopeful will bridge the gaps in sections of prior bills that have been particularly contentious, including but not limited to the scope of preemption. As discussed at the Conference, the new legislation rumored to be under consideration in the Senate may have significant bipartisan sponsors. This would not increase any likelihood of action this year (zero), but definitely will put an important marker down for the starting point of future attempts to craft a bipartisan bill in 2015. According to trade press reports, last ditch efforts to draft a bipartisan bill cratered in the Senate Wednesday night. Certain environmental groups, specifically the Environmental Working Group, were reported to reject the revised measure claiming it was no better than current law. Whether the bipartisan group intends to surface a Senate bill without Senator Barbara Boxer's (D-CA) support remains to be seen.