Donate Now
Join or give a gift or find other ways to give to Clean Water Action
Connect
Explore Your Community
Clean Water Action's national campaigns work on Federal laws and policy. State offices campaign on the same issues locally. Get more information about our work in each state and around the country.
Discover the Issues
Clean Water Action Responds to EPA's Shift on Toxic Chemicals
On September 29, 2009, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson spoke to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. In her remarks Administrator Jackson declared "updating our country's regulations and laws on chemicals and toxics" to be of the highest priority saying "...understanding the risks posed by chemicals, and doing our utmost to make sure they are safe" was essential to restoring the public's trust in the EPA, to protecting our children, and to growing our economy.
A 2005 study found 287 different chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of 10 newborn babies. These chemicals ranged in sources from pesticides to fast food packaging to emissions of automobiles and power plants. "But as more and more chemicals are found in our bodies and the environment, the public is understandably anxious and confused. Many are turning to government for assurance that chemicals have been assessed using the best available science, and that unacceptable risks haven't been ignored," Administrator Jackson stated.
Ms. Jackson also admitted that the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) had not only "fallen behind the industry it's supposed to regulate - it's been proven an inadequate tool for providing the protection against chemical risks that the public rightfully expects."
To rectify this and help provide more protection to both children and adults Administrator Jackson announced six principles to "guide Congress in writing a new chemical risk management law that will fix the weaknesses in TSCA." It is to these principles that Clean Water Action responds:
| Administrator Jackson's remarks | Clean Water Action's response |
|---|---|
| First, we need to review all chemicals against safety standards that are based solely on considerations of risk - not economics or other factors - and we must set these standards at levels that are protective of human health and the environment. | Clean Water Action supports the idea of putting environmental health first - this is a giant step forward after years of neglecting the public health and environmental impacts of toxic substances. |
| Second, safety standards cannot be applied without adequate information, and responsibility for providing that information should rest on industry. Manufacturers must develop and submit the hazard, use, and exposure data demonstrating that new and existing chemicals are safe. If industry doesn't provide the information, EPA should have the tools to quickly and efficiently require testing, without the delays and procedural obstacles currently in place. | Placing the burden of proof on industry is also a very positive step forward in crafting effective chemical regulation and policy. At Clean Water Action, we believe that the tests that EPA relies on to determine whether or not to regulate a chemical must be conducted without undue influence by the chemical industry. We will fight to ensure that updated chemicals policy reflects the need to keep the science neutral and unbiased. |
| Third, both EPA and industry must include special consideration for exposures and effects on groups with higher vulnerabilities - particularly children. Children ingest chemicals at a higher ratio to their body weight than adults, and are more susceptible to long-term damage and developmental problems. Our new principles offer them much stronger protections. | This principle represents another major improvement over the historic approach to chemical impacts assessment - for too long, environmental health regulations have failed to look assess impacts on babies, children, adolescents, pregnant women, and other vulnerable populations, therefore, they have failed to adequately protect the public. |
| Fourth, when chemicals fall short of the safety standard, EPA must have clear authority to take action. We need flexibility to consider a range of factors - but must also have the ability to move quickly. In all cases, EPA and chemical producers must act on priority chemicals in a timely manner, with firm deadlines to maintain accountability. This will not only assure prompt protection of health and the environment, but provide business with the certainly that it needs for planning and investment. | Clean Water Action is excited to see that the EPA realizes that we have waited long enough. Since its passage in the 1970s, TSCA has failed to provide the protections needed. Our elected officials and regulatory agencies have been derelict for decades in adequately safeguarding public health and the environment from the dangers posed by toxic substances. |
| Fifth, we must encourage innovation in green chemistry, and support research, education, recognition, and other strategies that will lead us down the road to safer and more sustainable chemicals and processes. All of this must happen with the utmost transparency and concern for the public's right to know. | Clean Water Action is delighted to see that the EPA supports a shift to alternative safer chemicals as one of the responses to addressing toxic substances. We also support this refreshing shift in attitude from the former EPA administration which sought to exclude the public whenever possible. The veil of “trade secrets” claims that the chemical industry has used as a pretense not to disclose information about its products must be lifted. |
| Finally, we need to make sure that EPA's safety assessments are properly resourced, with industry contributing its fair share of the costs of implementing new requirements. | We agree, but the devil is in the details. The chemical industry has profited for too long at the expense of public health and the environment. So, the question is, how much of the responsibility for safer chemicals policy will be bourne by industry? |
Clean Water Action gives EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson high praise for the reform principles she outlined at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. These principles reflect a major step forward in putting health and the environment first.
With 80,000 chemicals in the marketplace, the EPA historically has lacked the tools and resources needed to assess their risk and the impacts on public health.
Clean Water Action looks forward to working with EPA on driving the development of green chemistry. As these principles move forward to inform new laws, we need to focus on developing safer alternatives so we don't spend the next four decades wasting resources on mitigating the risks and impacts of toxic substances.