This month AMWA submitted two letters outlining concerns with EPA’s Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) process and multiple chemicals listed within two recent proposals. These letters focused on the chemicals listed within the proposed rule that are already known to be an environmental hazard, identified as causing acute human toxicity, or that are allowed to be released into surface waters. AMWA has begun submitting comments in response to these proposed rules to urge the agency to consider the ramifications of possible new contaminants reaching source waters.
In each letter, AMWA emphasized that it is “easier, more effective and more equitable to control pollutants at the source, where they are highly concentrated, than it is to remove them at the consumer’s expense after they have entered a water body or supply source.” AMWA went on to stress that controlling pollutants at the source helps ensure that those who pollute are not allowed to pass the cost of correcting the problem onto others. The most recent letter highlighted PFAS as an example as to why the agency should be cautious approving new chemicals for use in commerce.
AMWA’s overarching concerns with the individual chemicals included in the SNURs are primarily with the lack of data available to the public within the docket and the agency’s decisions to allow the release of certain substances into surface waters at specific amounts. A significant portion of the data included in the docket has been “sanitized” meaning that the actual text has been redacted and, in some cases, an entire document is unavailable for the public to review. This is done to protect confidential business information but makes it extremely difficult to discern why EPA has made the decisions it has (i.e. allowing a certain amount of the chemical to be released).
AMWA did praise the TSCA program, stating it provides a “unique opportunity to protect the environment and public health” and provides “significant tools for preventing harmful pollution.” However, the association laid out concerns with the agency’s process for obtaining “Potentially Useful Information,” particularly that the agency does not require manufacturers to test these chemicals to help determine potential health and/or environmental effects. The letter highlighted that “the only incentive for manufacturers or users of these chemicals to obtain and submit this information is so that a modification or revoking of the Premanufacture Notice (PMN) would be allowed. This approach provides a disincentive for additional study that could reveal more harmful health effects since disclosure of new information to the agency could prompt further study by EPA. Additional study would likely not remove the PMN and could possibly result in more federal restrictions on the chemical.”
AMWA will continue engaging EPA as more SNURs are released. If you have questions or comments for these or future letters, please reach out to Stephanie Hayes Schlea.