Cautious Optimism Voiced by All on EPA’s New Chemicals Plans

An EPA plan to modernize its oversight of new chemicals could ease improvements to smartphones, computers and other high-tech equipment, chemical policy analysts say.

But details are needed on how the Environmental Protection Agency would decide whether chemicals that have never been made in or imported into the U.S. can be sold, those same analysts said.

The agency invited comment last week on its plan, which includes using new types of toxicity and other data, old still-on-paper insights, and revamped chemical activity models.The approach “will increase the efficiency of new chemical reviews promoting the use of the best available ...