Industry, GOP Urge EPA To Reform Risk Assessment In Rule Review

摘要

Industry groups are urging EPA to develop guidance on how it weighs risk in chemical safety assessments - and GOP senators are seeking to soften several pending risk assessments - as the agency works to implement President Obama's recent executive order (E.O.) requiring agencies to review their regulations. EPA took comment through April 4 on its plan to respond to E.O. 13563, which calls for agencies to retroactively review existing rules "that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and to modify, streamline, expand, or repeal them," according to the order. EPA has opened 15 public dockets to collect input on various facets of its plan, though agency officials have previously indicated they are unlikely to expand the scope of its review of existing measures beyond already issued final rules, despite having the discretion to do so. In March 10 comments submitted to EPA, The Dow Chemical Company suggests the agency review the way it conducts risk assessments under the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program, which produces agency risk assessments used by local, state and international governments, and other program offices when setting regulatory limits.