{"id":6404,"date":"2017-04-19T11:55:50","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T16:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/?p=6404"},"modified":"2024-02-12T11:01:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T16:01:56","slug":"of-foxes-henhouses-and-tsca-implementation-the-chemical-industry-burrows-into-epas-toxics-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2017\/04\/19\/of-foxes-henhouses-and-tsca-implementation-the-chemical-industry-burrows-into-epas-toxics-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Of foxes, henhouses and TSCA implementation: The chemical industry burrows into EPA\u2019s toxics office"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The lead article in this past Sunday\u2019s New York Times<\/em> is titled \u201cWith Trump Appointees, a Raft of Potential Conflicts and \u2018No Transparency\u2019<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 It features several prominent examples of recent political appointments of industry representatives and industry lobbyists to key policy positions where they are now charged with or involved in reviewing or crafting the very same agency regulations and policies that were the focus of their paid private sector work just prior to their appointments.<\/p>\n

Add EPA\u2019s implementation of the newly amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to the list.<\/p>\n

Dr. Nancy Beck has just been appointed <\/a>Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and reportedly started in that position on Monday, April 17, 2017. \u00a0Dr. Beck is moving into her new position at EPA directly from her job as Senior Director, Regulatory Science Policy, Division of Regulatory & Technical Affairs at the American Chemistry Council (ACC), a position she has held since January, 2012.\u00a0 ACC is the main trade association for the chemicals industry, with a membership of more than 150 chemical companies, including such behemoths as BASF, Dow, DuPont and ExxonMobil.<\/p>\n

In her new job, Dr. Beck is expected to play a key role in implementing the new reforms made to TSCA, including in critical decisions that EPA will be making literally any day now, many of them driven by firm statutory deadlines.\u00a0 These decisions will directly affect the financial interests of the companies represented by ACC. \u00a0And they will involve deciding whether or not the agency should take positions for which Dr. Beck has advocated on behalf of her former employer, as recently as last month.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Any reasonable person would see a conflict here, one sufficient to seriously question whose interests Dr. Beck will be representing in playing such a role in TSCA implementation. \u00a0But as the Times article indicates, this Administration appears to have little concern about the fox guarding the henhouse.<\/p>\n

Nor does this situation bode well for the prospect of creating a credible federal system capable of restoring public and market confidence in the safety of chemicals \u2013 which was the key reason that such strong bipartisan and stakeholder support gelled behind the major reforms made to TSCA just last June.\u00a0 Placing a key chemical industry player in a position where she will now have direct and major influence over the direction that reform will take raises serious new doubts about the industry\u2019s claims that it supports providing EPA with stronger, independent authority and resources to vigorously establish the safety of chemicals in and entering commerce. \u00a0<\/p>\n

ACC\u2019s and Dr. Beck\u2019s deep involvement in TSCA reform and implementation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Beck\u2019s employer until last week, ACC, was deeply involved in the debate over and negotiations that led to last year\u2019s reforms of TSCA, and it remains highly active in seeking to influence the pace and direction of its implementation.\u00a0 In her capacity as a senior director at ACC, Dr. Beck was personally involved in these activities, representing ACC at numerous fora, testifying on behalf of ACC before Congress, and authoring comments submitted to EPA that provided ACC\u2019s views on various TSCA implementation activities being undertaken by EPA, including the development of the rules that will govern how the law is implemented for years or decades to come.<\/p>\n

ACC\u2019s advocacy is to be expected, given ACC\u2019s purpose, as was Dr. Beck\u2019s while at ACC.\u00a0 However, the depth and breadth of both her and her very recent employer\u2019s engagement and interest in influencing EPA\u2019s actions in implementing TSCA raise clear and pressing concerns with respect to her new position at EPA<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Dr. Beck\u2019s engagement in TSCA implementation while at ACC was so important to her that it was the main feature of an August 2016 profile of her that appeared on her alma mater\u2019s web page<\/a>:<\/p>\n

A key part of Beck\u2019s current role at the American Chemistry Council (ACC) is to actively engage with agencies on proposed policies, procedures, and guidance related to chemical risk assessment.\u00a0 She will focus in the coming year on the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act for the 21st Century, signed into law by President Obama on June 22, 2016. The legislation updates the Toxic Substances Control Act passed in 1976.<\/p>\n

Here are a few examples of recent materials and comments from Dr. Beck that advocate for ACC\u2019s positions on issues directly relevant to TSCA implementation and illustrate the currency and extent of her efforts on behalf of ACC to influence the very decisions she will now be in a position to help make at EPA:<\/p>\n