The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regulates how chemicals are developed, used, and eventually disposed of. The American Chemistry Council sat down with the Washington Examiner to emphasize the need for “surgical fixes” to improve the Act’s effectiveness.
“By law, it’s required to make a decision on those within 90 days,” Chris Jahn, the President & CEO of American Chemistry Council, said. “In reality, what happens is nine out of 10 chemistries right now are behind schedule, some of them up to six years they’ve been pending in the queue. Other countries look at those chemistries and make a decision in three to six months. If we want to be America’s manufacturing or the world’s manufacturing superpower, we’ve got to have chemistry made right here in the United States.”
Dr. Kimberly Wise White, the Vice President for Regulatory and Scientific Affairs at the American Chemistry Council, discussed proposed changes to the EPA‘s TSCA. A major concern is getting chemicals evaluated in the timeline set by Congress. White outlined three ways TSCA could become more efficient.
“This is where we believe some surgical fixes would be really beneficial,” White said. “To improve the training, to improve the way the assessments are done, and to make sure there’s a better and adequate understanding of the health and potential risk of those chemistries.”
“We’re not saying that the decision has to be yes,” Jahn said. “We’re saying EPA needs to be held accountable for its timeline and for the transparency of the process. You need to make a decision by a date, then our members can move forward, or not, as the case may be.”
White and Jahn highlighted the importance of chemistry in various industries: semiconductors, automobiles, military equipment, and medicines. Both called for Congress to use its oversight authority to address the backlog and ensure timely, science-based reviews.
“Chemistries are critical to the supply chain,” White said. “Think about the table, to the dress, to the shoes that you have on. Those are not possible without chemistries. Medicines aren’t possible without chemistries. We recognize the value chemistry has, but also the need to make sure we are protecting human health and the environment at the creation of those chemistries. This is where good, sound, practical, sensible chemical management really comes into place.”
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White also commends EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for deploying additional staff to address the backlog.
“Over 95% of the chemistries that are undergoing new chemical reviews are past their 90-day timeline, and more than 68% are actually past a year of being generated,” White said. “And so [Lee Zeldin] recognized more staff are needed to be dedicated to eliminating that backlog.”