- Trade Group Says Science-Based, Timely Chemical Management Program Would Benefit American Consumers and Businesses
As the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee reviews legislation to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) reiterated its call for targeted changes to the bill to address bottlenecks in the review process.
ACI, the trade association for the U.S. cleaning product supply chain, wants its member company manufacturers to be able to introduce safer, more sustainable cleaning products and chemistries to market faster.
“We appreciate the Senate’s targeted approach to TSCA revisions,” said Blake Nanney, ACI Director of Government Affairs. “Addressing these pressing challenges will help our members and other manufacturers continue to innovate and stay competitive in a global marketplace.”
Nanney highlighted three specific areas where practical changes in the proposed legislation would streamline new chemistry review under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
- Tiered New Chemical review process, which prioritizes the top-tier approval process to Safer Choice criteria. This supports ACI’s high priority of reinforcing the Safer Choice program, incentivizes innovation of safer and more sustainable chemistries and instills predictability, timeliness and process discipline in the New Chemicals Program.
- Clarification of “conditions of use” and “unreasonable risk”, which explicitly excludes hypothetical uses, misuse or activities already prohibited under other federal laws for new chemical reviews. This reinforces a science-based, exposure-driven risk standard that ACI strongly supports.
- Improves New Chemical Program efficiency and certainty by allowing independent, accredited third-party reviewers to assess submission completeness before EPA staff devote resources for a full Pre-Manufacturer Notice (PMN) review, enabling expedited review for market entry of new PMN submissions and improved stewardship of EPA resources. This improves and addresses our longstanding concerns about New Chemical PMN delays, which have caused a bottleneck on chemical innovation, as well as the general lack of regulatory certainty.
The American Cleaning Institute® (ACI – www.cleaninginstitute.org) is the Home of the U.S. Cleaning Products Industry® and represents the $60 billion U.S. cleaning product supply chain. ACI members include the manufacturers and formulators of soaps, detergents, and general cleaning products used in household, commercial, industrial and institutional settings; companies that supply ingredients and finished packaging for these products; and chemical distributors. ACI serves the growth and innovation of the U.S. cleaning products industry by advancing the health and quality of life of people and protecting our planet. ACI achieves this through a continuous commitment to sound science and being a credible voice for the cleaning products industry.