{"id":3894,"date":"2014-08-21T08:57:09","date_gmt":"2014-08-21T13:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/?p=3894"},"modified":"2024-02-12T11:01:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T16:01:37","slug":"nothing-is-forever-and-chemical-industry-trade-secret-claims-shouldnt-be-an-exception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2014\/08\/21\/nothing-is-forever-and-chemical-industry-trade-secret-claims-shouldnt-be-an-exception\/","title":{"rendered":"Nothing is forever \u2013 and chemical industry trade secret claims shouldn\u2019t be an exception"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Denison, Ph.D.<\/em>,<\/em> is a Lead Senior Scientist.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

A coalition of health, labor, environmental and environmental justice groups (including EDF)<\/a>, represented by Earthjustice, <\/span>filed a petition today<\/span><\/a> with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that requests EPA establish a limit on how long information on chemicals submitted and claimed confidential by the chemical industry under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) can be protected from disclosure.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The petition asks EPA to close a loophole in its current regulations that by default grants indefinite protection for nearly all chemical information claimed confidential.\u00a0 Because EPA\u2019s only option under its current regulations is to challenge these claims on a case-by-case basis, industry bears no responsibility to ensure that its claims remain valid over time. \u00a0The lack of any expiration date for such claims has contributed to a large backlog of excessive and often unwarranted claims \u2013 the protection of which imposes large costs on EPA and the American taxpayer and denies public and market access to information that could lead to better-informed decisions about chemicals.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The petition filed today offers a simple solution, one called for in virtually every internal and external review of EPA trade secret policy conducted over the last several decades (see list at the end of this post):\u00a0 EPA should alter its regulations to create a \u201csunset\u201d for confidential business information (CBI) claims, which would expire after a set period of time (5 years is proposed) unless the claimant shows that continued protection is warranted.\u00a0 This approach would allow true trade secrets to continue to be protected while providing public access to information that no longer warrants trade secret protection.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The groups filing today\u2019s petition are: \u00a0BlueGreen Alliance, Breast Cancer Fund, Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice, Environmental Defense Fund, and New Jersey Work Environment Council.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While <\/span>many other flaws in TSCA\u2019s system for protecting and disclosing chemical information<\/span><\/a> must await reform of the law<\/a>, this aspect is one that EPA can fix just by amending its current regulations.\u00a0 And today\u2019s petition calls on EPA to do just that.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Internal and external reviews of EPA trade secret policy recommending sunsets:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

EPA \u2013 OPPT, PROPOSED ACTIONS TO REFORM TSCA CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION (May 20, 1993), available at <\/span>http:\/\/nepis.epa.gov\/Exe\/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=91014AC3.txt<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

EPA \u2013 OPPT, FINAL ACTION PLAN: TSCA CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION REFORM (June 20, 1994), available at <\/span>http:\/\/www.regulations.gov\/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OPPT-2002-0054-0075<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

EPA, Public Information and Confidentiality Regulations, 59 Fed. Reg. 60,446 (proposed Nov. 23, 1994), available at <\/span>http:\/\/www.gpo.gov\/fdsys\/pkg\/FR-1994-11-23\/html\/94-28146.htm<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

EPA, TSCA Inventory Update Rule Amendments, 64 Fed. Reg. 46,772 (proposed Aug. 26, 1999), available at <\/span>http:\/\/www.gpo.gov\/fdsys\/granule\/FR-1999-08-26\/99-22243\/content-detail.html<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

EPA, Public Information and Confidentiality: Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking; Withdrawal of 1994 Proposed Rule, 65 Fed. Reg. 80,394 (proposed Dec. 21, 2000), available at <\/span>http:\/\/www.gpo.gov\/fdsys\/granule\/FR-2000-12-21\/00-32565\/content-detail.html<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

EPA, TSCA Inventory Update Rule Amendments, 68 Fed. Reg. 848 (Jan. 7, 2003), available at <\/span>http:\/\/www.gpo.gov\/fdsys\/granule\/FR-2003-01-07\/02-32909<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Government Accountability Office, CHEMICAL REGULATION: OPTIONS EXIST TO IMPROVE EPA\u2019S ABILITY TO ASSESS HEALTH RISKS AND MANAGE ITS CHEMICAL REVIEW PROGRAM (June 13, 2005), available at <\/span>http:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/250\/246667.pdf<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

EPA OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL, EPA NEEDS A COORDINATED PLAN TO OVERSEE ITS TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT RESPONSIBILITIES (Feb. 17, 2010), available at https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/sites\/production\/files\/2015-11\/documents\/20100217-10-p-0066.pdf<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Lead Senior Scientist.\u00a0 A coalition of health, labor, environmental and environmental justice groups (including EDF), represented by Earthjustice, filed a petition today with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that requests EPA establish a limit on how long information on chemicals submitted and claimed confidential by the chemical industry under the …<\/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":[44,114108],"tags":[39155,39993,5022],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-3894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-policy","category-tsca","tag-cbi","tag-general-interest","tag-worker-safety"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t