Bloomberg Environment Features Comments By Lynn L. Bergeson and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., in the Article “Wheeler Pledges More ‘Sunshine’ on Chemical Oversight”

On January 7, 2019, Bloomberg Environment quoted Lynn L. Bergeson, President, The Acta Group (Acta^®) and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, Acta, regarding U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s pledge to make public more information about chemical safety decisions.

Richard Engler, director of chemistry at Bergeson & Campbell PC, described Wheeler’s promises as reflecting “EPA’s commitment to fulfilling its responsibilities with regard to transparency in EPA’s TSCA processes.”

The agency’s efforts regarding new chemicals have focused on clearing backlogs of corporate requests to bring new compounds to market, Engler said. It has taken months, even years longer for the EPA to review new chemicals since TSCA was amended than prior to the law’s overhaul.

Nevertheless, “routine publication of information related to those notices is an important part of the process and provides critical transparency to submitters as well as other stakeholders,” said Engler, who worked in the EPA’s new chemicals office prior to joining Bergeson & Campbell. 

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Wheeler’s commitments will, however, add extra duties to the heavy workload the chemicals office already faces, “especially in light of the timeline damage caused by the shutdown,” said Lynn Bergeson, managing partner of Bergeson & Campbell law firm.

The EPA’s staff faces more deadlines in 2019 under the Lautenberg Act than it has faced since that statute became law on June 22, 2016.

See – https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/wheeler-pledges-more-sunshine-on-chemical-oversight-3 (subscription required)