Here’s a switch: New Obama-era regulations are going into effect, and the regulated industry seems pretty happy about it.
As Business Report details in a new feature in its current issue, former President Barack Obama signed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act last summer, with both Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana—a key sponsor—looking on approvingly.
The Lautenberg Act creates clear processes, authorities and timelines to give EPA, chemical manufacturers, retailers and the public more confidence in EPA decisions about chemical safety, Edward Flynn, vice president for health, safety and security with the Louisiana Chemical Association, says.
The agency’s final rules weren’t available at press time, but in general, widely used chemicals will undergo safety reviews, and EPA will have to declare new chemicals safe before they hit the market.
The process has the potential to get bogged down in bureaucracy, but Flynn is hopeful it will work as Congress intended.
“Given the complexity and importance of making sure chemicals that are brought into commerce are deemed generally safe, that’s not something that can be rushed,” he says of the nascent legislation. “I want to see the process move forward as effectively and efficiently as possible, and I believe that’s the case.”
Wilma Subra, a chemist who is the technical director for the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, says for decades the petrochemical industry was allowed to develop and sell products that were not properly tested for potential health impacts.
Even under the new law, she says, the burden of proof remains with regulators to show that a chemical is harmful. She would prefer putting the onus on industry and require them to prove their products are safe.
Subra also fears the EPA evaluation process will be slower under the new law. That could be especially true under the Trump administration, which thus far has been less concerned about the environment than its predecessor and much more skeptical of government regulation.
But Karyn Schmidt, senior director for regulatory and technical affairs for the American Chemistry Council, a Washington D.C.-based industry group, says EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is on record, in his confirmation hearings, as saying he fully supports implementation of the statute.
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