EPA says its draft risk assessment of formaldehyde will be a model for reforms to the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program, even as employers continue to question its finding that studies of exposed workers show inhaling the chemical can cause leukemia and accuse the agency of misleading peer reviewers on its methods.
Environmental groups used a flurry of recent meetings with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to renew their calls for a strict rule banning all use of the solvent methylene chloride, highlighting research they say shows both its acute toxicity and ongoing worker deaths even under OSHA’s current safety standards.
For the second time in less than three months, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is pressing EPA to prioritize hydrofluoric acid (HF) for TSCA evaluation, and to also boost inspections of facilities that work with the chemical, following the board’s investigation of a Wisconsin refinery explosion.
The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has released its report on a 2019 accident at a butadiene production facility in Texas, recommending that both the operator and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) strengthen their policies for the chemical to prevent similar incidents, just as EPA is evaluating its risks under TSCA.
An industry group is urging the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to block EPA from placing strict TSCA limits on methylene chloride use in order to protect workers from exposure, arguing that a tough rule lacks scientific support and risks cutting off domestic manufacturing of several key products.
A new report from the labor-environmental group BlueGreen Alliance (BGA) finds safety data sheets (SDS) OSHA requires to list chemicals’ toxic or hazardous properties are often erroneous, including several EPA has targeted for regulation -- which the group says undercut industry arguments that OSHA rules will protect workers from exposure.
The White House is preparing to hold the first in a series of stakeholder meetings on EPA’s precedent-setting draft TSCA risk management rule for the solvent methylene chloride, with labor unions and a key industry group in line to make their cases for a strict or lenient approach before the agency releases a formal proposal next year.
EPA has submitted its TSCA proposal to regulate use of the solvent methylene chloride to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), setting the stage for what a top toxics official said will be a model for future chemical rules designed to protected both workers and the general public from chemical exposures.
Leaders of the Chemical Sector Coordinating Council (CSCC), an industry coalition that works with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), are urging Congress to swiftly reauthorize the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program before it expires in 2023, emphasizing what they say has been valuable public-private collaboration and successful work preventing cybersecurity and other chemical incidents.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is escalating its attacks on the peer review of EPA’s draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) formaldehyde assessment, arguing that “deficiencies” in the review committee’s first public meeting were “inconsistent” with federal law governing advisory panels.