The Canary Report

Enlightening testimony on chemical regulation reform

Posted on Mar 10, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Law, Products, Research

Director of natural resources and environment at the Government Accountability Office says it should be chemical companies’ responsibility to ensure their products do not adversely affect human health or the environment.

Last month, the US House heard testimony on ways to improve the Toxic Substances Control Act, the grossly outdated chemical regulation policy that’s done little to protect public health.

One of the testifiers was John Stephenson (at left), director of natural resources and environment at the Government Accountability Office. In January, the GAO said the Environmental Protection Agency’s processes for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals was in need of broad-based transformation.

Stephenson’s statement is a comprehensive look at the failed chemical regulation policies of the last 30 years, and a recommendation to completely change the way the US controls toxic chemicals: Rather than the onus being on the EPA to prove a chemical poses “unreasonable risk” before issuing regulations to control it (which they have applied to only five chemicals), Stephenson says it should be the chemical companies’ responsibility to ensure they manufacture, put on the market, or use substances that do not adversely affect human health or the environment.

Further, these provisions, Stephenson states, are underpinned by the precautionary principle, which means that where there are threats of damage, lack of scientific certainty can not be used as a reason to postpone measures to reduce risks to human health and the environment.

In addition to recommending regulatory changes to shift the burden to the chemical companies for demonstrating the safety of their chemicals, the GAO also calls for strengthening EPA’s authority to obtain information from the chemical industry, and enhancement of the public’s understanding of the risks of chemicals to which they may be exposed.

Link to Stephenson’s full statement.

Thanks, Linda!

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Tags: Chemicals, EPA, Health, Law, Policy, Research, Toxic