EPA Goes Transparent Again - Removes Confidentiality Claims for 150+ Chemicals

In its continuing efforts to make chemical information more transparent, the USEPA has decided to make public "the identities of more than 150 chemicals contained in health and safety studies that had been claimed confidential by industry."  EPA is taking this, and other actions, to "provide the public with greater access to information on the chemicals that are manufatured and used in the United States."  According to Steve Owens, Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention:

“A health and safety study with the chemical name kept secret is completely useless to the public.” 

As expected, the NGO advocacy community responded positively to the announcement, though they would prefer even more information to be released to the public.  The chemical industry, led by the American Chemistry Council, noted that it supported "EPA's mission to promote public understanding of the potential risks posed by chemicals in commerce," but also was concerned that "critical information needed by businesses to innovate and succeed in a competitive international marketplace” needed to be kept confidential."

 More information can be found at the EPA site here.

EPA Issues Notice to Deny Claims of Chemical Confidentiality Under TSCA

In its continuing quest to use its current authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA has issued a notice in the Federal Register last week that outlines how it expects to "generally deny Confidential Business Information claims for the identity of chemicals in health and safety studies filed under TSCA."

This wouldn't apply if the chemical identity explicitly contains process information or discloses mixture information that would still be protected under TSCA, but basically it would require the chemical to be readily identifiable by the public. The health and safety studies themselves have never been considered CBI, but a lot of good that does if you can't figure out on what chemical the study was done.

The Federal Register Notice can be found here as a PDF. Additional information on EPA's efforts on increasing transparency on chemical information is available on the EPA existing chemicals web site. --------------------------------------------------------------------

EPA Will Start Reviewing Confidentiality Claims for TSCA Chemicals

The USEPA has announced in a Federal Register notice that it initiate "a general practice of reviewing confidentiality claims for chemical identities in health and safety studies, and in data from health and safety studies, submitted under TSCA."

The policy will become effective August 25, 2010 and will include both newly submitted claims and existing claims. The policy takes advantage of Section 14(b) of TSCA, in which the data in health and safety studies is not supposed to be held confidential. If EPA decides to make these studies public they would still "not disclose processes used in the manufacturing or processing of a chemical substance or mixture or, in the case of a mixture, the release of data disclosing the portion of the mixture comprised by any of the chemical substances in the mixture." The problem is that sometimes the chemical identity has contained confidential process information. But where a chemical identity does not explicitly contain process information or reveal portions of a mixture, "EPA expects to find that the information would clearly not be entitled to confidential treatment."

This is yet another step EPA is taking to improve the transparency of chemical information. Earlier EPA determined that some information previously held confidential would no longer be, and they also put the public portion of the TSCA Inventory on the internet for free availability for all (previously you had to purchase access through private vendors).

EPA Increaseses Transparency - Posts Calendars of Senior Managers Online

In accordance with the Obama Administration's implementation of the mandate to increase transparency in operations, EPA has now made available online all of the senior manager's calendars, including that of Administrator Lisa Jackson. People can view all meetings attended by advocates, stakeholders, elected officials and others outside the Agency. The calendars don't detail meetings or briefings that only involve EPA representatives, nor do they provide minutes or other details of the meetings, but they do indicate where and with whom meetings were held.

The calendar page also is a good resource for identifying who the key players are at EPA.

The calendar can be found here.