6. CHEMICALS: Consumer coalition outlines goals for reforming toxics law (03/30/2010)

Sara Goodman, E&E reporter

A coalition of environmental and public health groups outlined its goals for reforming federal toxics regulations today at a major chemical-industry conference in Baltimore.

The Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition is urging reform of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, to force manufacturers to provide information about chemicals in consumer products instead of presuming substances are safe until proven dangerous.

"We are thrilled that the chemical industry finally agrees that we need to reform this outdated law," said Andy Igrejas, the coalition's campaign director.

"Now we need to make sure that we take advantage of this long-awaited opportunity to protect the health of Americans for decades to come."

Last year, both the coalition and the American Chemistry Council, a leading industry trade group, released separate principles each wanted to see in TSCA reform. At that time, most of the conversation between the groups centered on their similar goals.

But Igrejas said today his group wants to make sure its priorities do not get lost in the upcoming negotiations on TSCA reform on Capitol Hill. "This is the beginning of putting these differences out there very clearly and publicly," he said.

He outlined three major distinctions between industry and coalition positions:

• The coalition believes TSCA should require basic safety data on all chemicals in the marketplace. But several industry groups say the law -- for expediency -- should focus on high-priority chemicals, specifically on the "most significant uses and exposures."

• U.S. EPA would be empowered to act immediately on the most toxic and persistent chemicals under the coalition proposal, while industry groups say chemicals should be assessed to determine if they can reasonably be expected to be safe for their intended uses. At that point, those groups say, EPA should consider risk management measures (E&E Daily, Nov. 18, 2009).

• Chemicals should be assessed using "real world" evaluations that consider lifetime, cumulative exposures, the coalition says. Industry groups support continuing to assess chemicals individually based on whether they are determined safe for their intended use.

The coalition, Igrejas said, is concerned that industry supports TSCA reform for public relations purposes.

"We don't think a federal program should be designed fundamentally to provide the chemical industry with PR relief for chemicals," Igrejas said. "The genie's out of bottle, and people understand that chemicals, including some that are quite common, are causing harm with public health and the environment and we need a credible program to deal with that."

But ACC President Cal Dooley rejected the coalition's assertion that the chemical industry is more concerned with public relations. The council, he said, is working to protect the public while ensuring that innovation is not stifled.

"Our highest priority is public health and safety," Dooley said in a statement. "Americans deserve to have confidence that the products they buy are safe for the uses for which they were designed."

ACC and the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates released a statement in response to the coalition protesters acknowledging differences in TSCA reform proposals, saying the solution was to bring together all stakeholders to discuss their points of view.

"We believe that effective chemical regulatory reform can be best achieved through a transparent and inclusive process," the industry groups wrote, "one that we look forward to continuing as we work towards a modern chemical management system that restores public confidence in the way chemicals are managed in commerce."