SUMMARY OF CHANGES
Conforming to existing law
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The word “injury” is used in place of “harm” throughout, to be consistent with existing law.
Addressing Articles
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When EP selects restrictions on articles, language is clarified to ensure that EP is selecting restrictions to address the identified ris! of the substance from the article determined necessary to meet the safety standard.
Existing information to Increase Efficienc
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EP will incorporation into safety assessments and determinations existing information regarding ha"ard and exposure published by other #ederal agencies or the $ational cademies, with the objecti%e of increasing the efficiency of the safety assessments and determinations where that information is a%ailable, rele%ant, and scientifically reliable.
Unreasona!le Ris"
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&n rele%ant places in T'(, as amended by the bill, the term “unreasonable ris!” is either clarified to exclude consideration of costs or other non)ris! factors to conform with the safety standard definition, or the word “unreasonable” is dropped.
#eadline for Im$lementing Restrictions and %ro&i!itions
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(ompliance deadlines for ris! management rules are to be “as soon as practicable,” and bans and phase)outs are to be implemented “in as short a period as is practicable.”
Access to C'I information for !anned or $&ased o(t c&emicals
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&f EP bans or phases out a chemical, there is a rebuttable presumption information on that chemical should no longer be protected as confidential business information and can become a%ailable to the public with notice and opportunity for judicial re%iew.
State Co)enforcement
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'tates allowed to co)enforce, with condition that penalties can be collected from either #ederal go%ernment or 'tate, not both and penalties at the state le%el cannot be greater than under federal T'(.
#esignation of a *ow %riorit C&emical
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llows *+ days of public comment for all listing decisions.
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llows any member of the public to challenge a low priority decision within + days of listing.
Clarification of Hig& %riorit #esignation
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EP shall designate a chemical as high priority based on “significant” -rather than “high” ha"ard rather and “significant” -rather than “widespread” exposure, and may designate a chemical as high priority if it has either characteristic.
%'+s
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When setting the initial list of high priority chemicals, EP must gi%e preference to T'( Wor! Plan (hemicals that are persistent and bioaccumulati%e.
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P/Ts added as a criteria for EP to consider when ma!ing prioriti"ation determinations.
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&n ris! management, EP is re0uired to select restrictions for P/T' that reduce exposure “to the maximum extent practicable”
Hig& %riorit %a(se
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Preemption of new state regulatory actions starts when the scope of uses of a chemical isdefined 1maximum months after a substance is identified as a high priority2 and ends when the safety determination is made 1no more than 3 years after a substance is identified as a high priority2.
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&f the deadline for the safety determination is missed, state wai%ers are automatically granted from the “pause”.
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&n addition, EP “shall” appro%e a state re0uest for a wai%er if the states meets the following criteria4
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The state re0uirement doesn5t %iolate #ederal law
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The state re0uirement doesn5t unduly burden interstate commerce
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The state5s concern about the chemical substance or the use of the chemical substance is based in peer)re%iewed science
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&f EP fails to ma!e a decision on a state wai%er within *+ days, the wai%er is appro%ed
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The appro%al of a wai%er as well as “automatic” appro%al of the wai%er can be challenged, in which case the appro%al is suspended until a decision is reached by EP or a court, but if there is still no decision after a further *+ days, the wai%er is again appro%ed.
Ind(str %etitioned C&emicals
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&n addition to high)priority chemicals designated by EP, manufacturers and processors can petition EP to designate additional non)high priority chemicals for safety assessments and determinations.
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The industry would pay 6++7 of the cost of the assessment.
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These chemicals are additional to the high priority list and do not limit the number EP otherwise designates
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These chemicals can amount to a minimum of 837 and a maximum of 9+7 of the cumulati%e total number of high priority chemicals. 1'o if EP is e%aluating 83 :igh Priority (hemicals, there could be an additional to ; industry)petitioned chemicals that allow EP to re%iew more chemicals than their resources would otherwise allow2.
+&ro(g&$(t of E%A ,or" %lan C&emicals
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#or chemicals that EP has already identified as high ris! chemicals on the T'( Wor! Plan, manufacturers can petition for those chemicals to mo%e to a safety assessment and determination, and pay 3+7 of the cost. EP has full discretion to appro%e or deny these industry petitions.
%re)em$tion
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(larification that state clean air and clean water laws are not pre)empted
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'tate information collection and disclosure laws are protected from pre)emption
Im$orts
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<elete imports section in order to conform to current law.
Animal +esting
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#or the purposes of T'( submissions to EP, industry must loo! to scientifically a%ailable alternati%es first before conducting animal testing.
Grandfat&er date mo-ed later
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ny state chemical regulation is permanently protected from preemption that is in effect before ugust 6, 8+63. Pre%iously, the grandfather date was =anuary 6, 8+63.