55 



We continue to strengthen work on "national program chemicals," those chemicals 

 that require comprehensive stewardship programs conducted over several years. 

 Currently we are focused on lead, asbestos, and PCBs, but over time we are broad- 

 ening these categories to cover heavy metals, fibers, and dioxin. 



III. KEY ISSUES FOR TSCA 



Given this changing vision for what a toxics program can contribute, it is cer- 

 tainly appropriate to reconsider the statutory structure of TSCA. Overall the basic 

 question is whether changes are needed to make TSCA a more effective tool to im- 

 plement the types of toxics program I have just described. As this subcommittee ex- 

 amines TSCA, we urge you to examine six areas where reforms might be considered: 



1. Information Collection — Since its inception, TSCA has been viewed as an infor- 

 mation collection statute. Yet there has not been broad consensus on what informa- 

 tion should be collected under the statute. Assuming that something like the Master 

 Testing List continues over time, what categories of chemicals should be the focus 

 of testing? What, if any, changes would be appropriate to enhance EPA and the 

 public's information base on use and exposure to chemicals? In addition, the process 

 for obtaining chemical information has sometimes been slow. How can that process 

 be made more efficient? 



2. Information Disclosure — If public disclosure of chemical information is an im- 

 portant value, it would be useful to consider how TSCA facilitates this objective. 

 What t3rpes of data are useful to disclose? Any look at this issue must inevitably 

 consider the proper protection of confidential business information. Much of the data 

 collected as CBI is legitimately claimed as such and deserves protection. The chal- 

 lenge is to open up to the public information that they would want to know while 

 protecting true trade secrets. It also is important to consider what incentives for 

 public disclosure exist in the current law. As part of the inquiry the subcommittee 

 may want to consider how the CBI requirements apply to the states, an important 

 group which serves as a co-regulator with EPA. 



3. New Chemicals Reform — ^The subcommittee has indicated an interest in how 

 new chemicals are regulated and thus we would expect a careful inquiry in this 

 area. There has been some suggestions that industry should bear a higher burden 

 to justify introduction of a new chemical into commerce. We believe that an increase 

 in responsibility may be appropriate, but it is also important to consider how to 

 'level the playing field" between new and existing chemicals. Statutory changes that 

 simply build a "new chemical bias" into the program will not promote overall pollu- 

 tion prevention. The subcommittee may wish to consider ways to make the statute 

 more efficient and to encourage consideration of cost-effective pollution prevention 

 in the development of new chemicals. 



4. Targeted Action — ^As described above, EPA has tried to target its risk manage- 

 ment actions on situations where pollution prevention is needed to reduce risk. As 

 the subcommittee exsunines the statute, you will want to consider the appropriate 

 role of pollution prevention. For example, the subcommittee may wish to consider 

 the appropriateness of the "use cluster^ approach or site-specific risk reduction. At 

 a minimum, the subcommittee will want to examine Section 6 of TSCA to see 

 whether it is and effective approach. 



5. Environmentally Preferable Products — ^The President's recent Executive Order 

 calling for the purchase of "environmentally preferable products" by the Federal gov- 

 ernment has opened up an important new area of environmental policy. Moreover, 

 several private groups in the U.S. and several governments around the world have 

 developed ecolabeling programs that will affect American products and will present 

 a complicated set of signals to American consumers. Given the emergence of this 

 area of policy, the subcommittee may want to consider the role of EPA in helping 

 to provide consistent definitions and guidelines, as well as in the development of 

 harmonized approached to informing consimiers about the environmental attributes 

 of products. 



6. Enforcement — ^The subcommittee may also wish to consider whether the exist- 

 ing enforcement provisions of TSCA are sufficient. 



7. Streamlining — ^TSCA is an old statute and, in the spirit of the National Per- 

 formance Review, the Federal government as a whole is engaged in an effort to use 



