{"id":30,"date":"2008-07-02T13:57:47","date_gmt":"2008-07-02T18:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/2008\/07\/02\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-5-can-epa-regulate-%e2%80%9cexisting%e2%80%9d-nanomaterials\/"},"modified":"2024-02-12T11:02:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T16:02:32","slug":"epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-5-can-epa-regulate-existing-nanomaterials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2008\/07\/02\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-5-can-epa-regulate-existing-nanomaterials\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA Nano Authority under TSCA, Part 5:  Can EPA Regulate &#8220;Existing&#8221; Nanomaterials?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>[<strong>Links to posts in this series<\/strong>: <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/2008\/04\/22\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-1-it-all-depends-on-what-%e2%80%9cnew%e2%80%9d-means\/\"><em>Part 1<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/2008\/05\/27\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-2-%e2%80%9cnew%e2%80%9d-isn%e2%80%99t-necessarily-all-that-better\/\"><em>Part 2<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/2008\/06\/27\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-3-can-epa-track-existing-nanomaterials\/\"><em>Part 3<\/em><\/a><em>, <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/2008\/07\/01\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-4-can-epa-get-industry-data-on-%e2%80%9cexisting%e2%80%9d-nanomaterials\/\">Part 4<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/2008\/07\/02\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-5-can-epa-regulate-%e2%80%9cexisting%e2%80%9d-nanomaterials\/\">Part 5<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This final post in this series goes to the ultimate question, where the nanorubber really hits the road:\u00a0 <em><strong>Can EPA regulate an \u201cexisting\u201d nanomaterial\u2019s production, use, or disposal under TSCA?<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>EPA\u2019s authority to regulate a chemical in commerce is provided in <a href=\"http:\/\/frwebgate.access.gpo.gov\/cgi-bin\/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&amp;docid=Cite:+15USC2605\">Section 6<\/a> of TSCA.\u00a0 In principle, EPA has broad authority to impose any of a diverse range of controls on a chemical.\u00a0 It can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>require labeling, monitoring, or compliance testing of a chemical or a product containing it;<\/li>\n<li>require communication of instructions on appropriate use to customers;<\/li>\n<li>prohibit or regulate disposal of the chemical or any product containing it;<\/li>\n<li>prohibit or regulate its commercial use;<\/li>\n<li>prohibit or regulate specific uses or the use above a specified concentration of the chemical; or<\/li>\n<li>prohibit or limit all production or use of a chemical.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But once again there\u2019s a big catch:\u00a0 For EPA to take <strong><em>any<\/em><\/strong> regulatory action, it must first find that the chemical \u201c<em>presents or will present<\/em> an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To make such a finding, EPA must consider more than whether the chemical is harmful and if there are significant exposures to it.\u00a0 EPA must also consider the economic and social costs of imposing controls on the chemical, including the benefits of the chemical, the availability of alternatives, and the impact of regulation on the economy, small businesses and innovation.\u00a0 It must demonstrate that the proposed control is the least burdensome it could have proposed.\u00a0 Finally, it must demonstrate that no other statute could address the concern.<\/p>\n<p>Not surprisingly, this authority has seldom been used:\u00a0 Since adoption of TSCA in 1976, EPA has succeeded in developing Section 6 rules for specific uses of only <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gao.gov\/new.items\/d05458.pdf\">five substances<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>fully halogenated chlorofluoroalkanes used as aerosol propellants;<\/li>\n<li>dioxin in certain wastes;<\/li>\n<li>hexavalent chromium used in water treatment chemicals in comfort cooling towers;<\/li>\n<li>polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), by virtue of a mandate from the U.S. Congress; and<\/li>\n<li>asbestos (limited to products no longer in commerce, because the initial rule was vacated by U.S. courts after legal challenge).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>None of these constraints are specific to nanomaterials, of course.\u00a0 Nonetheless, all of them would apply to any nanomaterial or use of a nanomaterial EPA tried to regulate \u2013 even, for example, if it were simply to seek to require labeling of products containing a nanomaterial.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Series Conclusion<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In this series of posts, I\u2019ve described some of the serious limits to EPA\u2019s ability to apply its authorities under TSCA to address the potential for nanomaterials to harm human health or the environment.\u00a0 These limits pertain both to EPA\u2019s ability to obtain information sufficient to effectively assess potential risks, and its ability to act on such information when it indicates there are significant risks.<\/p>\n<p>While in some cases EPA could use its existing authorities to do more than it has done, a number of the problems I\u2019ve identified will clearly require changes to TSCA.\u00a0 And, of course, many of these problems extend well beyond nanomaterials to affect all chemicals that fall under the purview of TSCA.<\/p>\n<p>The latter fact is one of the reasons EDF does not favor developing a new nano-specific law.\u00a0 Rather, careful consideration of the special features of nanomaterials and provision for their appropriate regulation must be incorporated into the broader process of bringing TSCA into the 21st century.<\/p>\n<p><em>[<strong>Links to posts in this series<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/2008\/04\/22\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-1-it-all-depends-on-what-%e2%80%9cnew%e2%80%9d-means\/\"><em>Part 1<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/2008\/05\/27\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-2-%e2%80%9cnew%e2%80%9d-isn%e2%80%99t-necessarily-all-that-better\/\"><em>Part 2<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/2008\/06\/27\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-3-can-epa-track-existing-nanomaterials\/\"><em>Part 3<\/em><\/a><em>, <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/2008\/07\/01\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-4-can-epa-get-industry-data-on-%e2%80%9cexisting%e2%80%9d-nanomaterials\/\">Part 4<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/nanotechnology\/2008\/07\/02\/epa-nano-authority-under-tsca-part-5-can-epa-regulate-%e2%80%9cexisting%e2%80%9d-nanomaterials\/\">Part 5<\/a>]<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist. [Links to posts in this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5] This final post in this series goes to the ultimate question, where the nanorubber really hits the road:\u00a0 Can EPA regulate an \u201cexisting\u201d nanomaterial\u2019s production, use, or disposal under TSCA?\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,56087,56096],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-30","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-policy","category-nanotechnology","category-omboira"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12928,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions\/12928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}