January 26, 2011

1. January 26, 2011 Confronting Toxics Webinar Series: Federal chemicals policy and the role of the healthcare professional in 2011 With Richard Denison PhD, Senior Scientist, Environmental Defense FundLindsay Dahl, Deputy Director, Safer Chemicals Healthy Families coalition

2. Resource for health professionals: www.psr.org/environmental-health-policy-institute

3. The State of TSCA Reform Richard A. Denison, Ph.D.Senior Scientist January 26, 2011

4. TSCA - EPA faces key structural constraints in: • Developing and sharing information about chemicals • High hurdle to require testing of chemicals • Heavy resource and evidentiary burdens • Inability to share CBI; claims are rampant

5. TSCA - EPA faces key structural constraints in: • Acting on information it does manage to obtain • Virtually no criteria to identify chemicals warranting action; instead, case-by-case • No mandate to assess existing chemicals • Near-impossible hurdle to regulate

6. TSCA, the Dog that Didn’t Even Bark By the numbers: • 62,000 chemicals grandfathered in when TSCA was passed in 1976 • Required testing on <300 in 34 years • 5 chemicals have been regulated in limited ways • 19 years since EPA last tried (and failed) to regulate a chemical: asbestos

7. Formaldehyde, Katrina and the FEMA Trailers

8. Drivers for TSCA Reform • Major reform of others’ policies: REACH, CEPA • State legislation and policy changes • Shift from bans to policies: CA, ME, WA • GAO put chemicals on its 2009 “high-risk” list • 1 of 5 top priorities of Lisa Jackson • EPA: Principles for TSCA reform issued in Sep. ‘09 • Congressional action: Oversight hearings, CPSC phthalate ban, BPA ban bill, Kid-Safe Chemicals Act • Market demand, esp. from downstream users

9. ACC then and now (well, until July) • "In our view, TSCA is a sound statutory and regulatory system.  It is a robust vehicle that can effectively address emerging chemical issues ... The American Chemistry Council believes that the Toxic Substances Control Act provides a high level of health and environmental protection in the manufacture and use of chemical substances.“ Mike Walls, Managing Director, American Chemistry CouncilCongressional testimony, August 2, 2006 • "TSCA is in dire need of modernization." Cal Dooley, President, American Chemistry CouncilCongressional testimony, February 26, 2009

10. Why the shift? • “The public’s confidence in the federal chemical management system has been challenged. ACC believes that appropriate modifications to federal law will help enhance public confidence that health and the environment are protected.” Cal Dooley, President, American Chemistry CouncilCongressional testimony, February 26, 2009 • “In the absence of reforms to TSCA we are seeing a plethora of State actions that are serving to create tremendous uncertainty in our markets. ... We think a robust reformed TSCA would remove the motivation for state by state regulation of chemicals.” Linda Fisher, Chief Sustainability Officer, DuPontCongressional testimony, March 9, 2010

11. National and State Environmental Groups (NRDC, EDF, Washington Toxics Coalition, Clean Water Action…. • Environmental Justice Groups (Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice, WEACT, Just Transition Alliance…) • Health-affected Groups (Autism Society of America, American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Breast Cancer Fund… • Health Professionals (American Nurses Association, Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, Planned Parenthood, Mt. Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Center…) • Concerned Parents (MomsRising, Learning Disabilities Assn.) www.saferchemicals.org

12. U.S. Legislation: Current and Proposed • Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) • Covers most chemicals used in industry and in commercial/consumer products • Excludes: • uses in drugs, cosmetics, food packaging regulated by FDA • uses in pesticides covered by EPA under FIFRA • Reform legislation • Safe Chemicals Act (S. 3209) introduced by Senator Lautenberg • Toxic Chemicals Safety Act (H.R. 5820) introduced by Chairmen Rush and Waxman

13. TSCA vs. new proposals: Overview

14. TSCA vs. new proposals: Overview

15. TSCA vs. new proposals: Overview

16. What happened last year? Senate: • Sen. Lautenberg put his bill on hold, challenging chemical industry to bring him an R • They never delivered one House: • Industry asked for discussion draft, stakeholder process before bill intro, which they got • Bill intro and hearing in July: ACC pulled out all the stops to kill the bill: claimed it’s a job killer, will stifle innovation, drive the industry to China • Threw their own TSCA reform principles under the bus

17. Other chemical industry actions • Filing negative comments opposing EPA efforts: • to require more robust chemical data reporting • to increase transparency and rein in CBI claims • Lobbying OMB and the White House: • to block EPA chemical action plans • to keep EPA from developing a “chemicals of concern” list • Our coalition is prioritizing supporting and pushing EPA ahead under current TSCA – even as we press for reform

18. What the new year brings • We’ve renewed our commitment to dialogue with some downstream companies • Some chemical companies have reached out to our coalition, seeing dialogue as best path forward and concerned about ACC’s behavior • Others may well be pursuing pushing an industry bill through the House • Stay tuned!

19. For more information EDF’s Chemicals Policy Webpage www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=12814 Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families www.saferchemicals.org I Am Not a Guinea Pig www.notaguineapig.org EDF Chemicals & Nanomaterials Blog www.edf.org/chemandnano