EPA Updates Chemical Review Process as Agency Works on Speed (1)

The EPA on Wednesday announced updates to how it reviews new chemicals under the nation’s key commercial chemicals law in an effort to address efficiency, transparency, and worker safety.

All new chemicals—ones never made in or imported into the US before—must be reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency before they can be produced or imported and used for emerging technologies and new applications of existing ones. If the EPA’s review finds the chemicals could be too risky, the Toxic Substances Control Act requires the EPA to limit how the chemical is made or used.

Delays in that process that have ...