The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 29, 2023, that it is adding ten chemicals to the Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL). EPA describes the SCIL as “a living list of chemicals that EPA’s Safer Choice program has evaluated and determined meet Safer Choice criteria.” With this update, the SCIL includes a total of 1,071 chemicals that are “among the safest for their functional use.” According to EPA, the SCIL provides increased transparency...
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On May 18, 2023, Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced the Supercomputing for Safer Chemicals (SUPERSAFE) Act (S. 1685, H.R. 3457). According to Padilla’s May 18, 2023, press release, the legislation would establish a SUPERSAFE Consortium led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “to identify chemicals that are safe to use in commerce through science-backed decision making.” The press release states that the bill would direct the use...
November 21, 2019
Ninth Circuit Issues Decision in Case Challenging EPA’s Prioritization and Risk Evaluation Rules
On November 14, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its decision in a case challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) prioritization and risk evaluation rules. Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families v. EPA, No. 17-72260. Petitioners argued that provisions in the risk evaluation rule relating to EPA’s evaluation of the risks from a substance’s “conditions of use” violate several of the Toxic Substances Control Act’s (TSCA) requirements. ...
July 15, 2019
EPA, Intervenors File Supplemental Briefs in Case Challenging EPA’s Prioritization and Risk Evaluation Rules
On June 28, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed its response to the non-governmental organizations’ (NGO) supplemental brief in a case challenging EPA’s prioritization and risk evaluation rules. Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families v. EPA, No. 17-72260. According to EPA, petitioners “have plausibly alleged standing to challenge only the definitional interpretation of ‘conditions of use’ and the two provisions still subject to EPA’s motion for voluntary...
By Lynn L. Bergeson The American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) and the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3) recently released a report that evaluates the potential business and economic value of “safer chemistry.” The report, Making the Business & Economic Case for Safer Chemistry, concludes that market growth, capital flows, and market demand show upward trajectories during the past five years. Large corporations, specifically including Dow,...
On December 11, 2013, EPA gave a Green Chemistry award to Professor Richard Wool of the University of Delaware for his work to develop biobased products such as adhesives, composites, and foams from renewable feedstocks, including vegetable oils, chicken feathers, and flax. The EPA grants Green Chemistry Awards each year to recognize "landmark green chemistry technologies developed by industrial pioneers and leading scientists that are contributing to the use of chemicals and products that...
December 6, 2013
EPA Requests Report On Assessing Safer Chemicals
EPA has requested a report from the National Academies Committee (the Committee) on options that governments, manufacturers, and retailers can use to compare the safety of various chemicals as they analyze potential substitutes for those chemicals. The report is expected early in 2014. During the initial meeting of the Committee last month, a representative from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported that an OECD committee has identified more than 80 methods...
On October 29, 2013, hundreds of parents and children participated in a "stroller brigade" on Capitol Hill during which they lobbied Senate offices to provide greater protections against harmful chemicals during reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The stroller brigade also joined actress Jennifer Beals at a press conference on TSCA reform sponsored by the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition. Following the July 31, 2013, Senate Environment and Public Works hearing...