129 



Maintenance of proprietary information can often make the dif- 

 ference between success and failure of a product. Protection of such 

 information associated with the extended and often costly devel- 

 opmental process — particularly with small volume specialty chemi- 

 cals — makes it economically possible for SOCMA members to de- 

 velop new product lines and maintain them in the marketplace. 



However, Mr. Chairman, in case you are thinking that SOCMA 

 is just another industry group believing that there is nothing 

 wrong with TSCA, I must be frank in sharing that while SOCMA 

 is not advocating broad changes to the existing chemicals program, 

 SOCMA has nonetheless two major concerns with this program. 



First, we are concerned that EPA is moving forward with its new 

 initiatives at the expense of conducting compliance assistance and 

 outreach activities for the regulated community. In fact, SOCMA is 

 convinced that TSCA enforcement fines are at a record high be- 

 cause companies — particularly small companies — today often mis- 

 interpret TSCA's reporting and notification requirements. EPA's di- 

 minishing resources may contribute to this problem, which really 

 impacts smaller companies. Accordingly, SOCMA believes that 

 EPA should be actively conducting more compliance assistance and 

 outreach for the regulated community and that funds should be re- 

 allocated to OPPT for this specific purpose. 



Secondly, SOCMA is concerned about the paperwork burden on 

 industry for many TSCA reporting and notification requirements 

 and believes that this burden is not justified in light of the minimal 

 increment and information provided to EPA. In reality, the report- 

 ing burden associated with producing relatively small quantities of 

 specialty chemicals is disproportionately high compared to the vol- 

 ume of these chemicals and could in fact force many SOCMA mem- 

 ber companies out of certain product lines. SOCMA believes that 

 EPA should adopt exemptions for most TSCA reporting and notifi- 

 cation requirements to provide much needed regulatory relief for 

 small quantity and R&D chemical manufacturers. 



SOCMA believes that introducing these regulatory improvements 

 must build upon EPA's current existing chemical program activities 

 and strongly believes that Congress should allow EPA time to fully 

 implement its new initiatives before beginning to amend TSCA. 



My remarks today have primarily focused on existing chemical 

 issues. Although as producers of many innovative specialty chemi- 

 cals, most SOCMA members are knowledgeable about EPA's new 

 chemicals program. SOCMA would be happy to answer here today 

 or later in writing any follow-up questions regarding new chemical 

 issues. 



Once again, thank you for allowing me to testify today on 

 SOCMA's behalf. We are pleased that you are willing to listen to 

 our views as you move forward with developing a legislative pro- 

 posal and we wish you and the subcommittee every success in your 

 most important endeavors. 



Thank you. 



Senator Reid. I thank you all very much. 



Mr. Kanerva, if the statute explicitly provided for States to have 

 access to CBI data when they have systems as protective as EPA's, 

 would that be sufficient, in your view? Or is it more needed for 

 States to get the TSCA information they need? 



