• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

A national effort to protect families from toxic chemicals.

  • Get Involved
  • Our Work
    • News
    • Public Policy
    • Mind the Store
    • Successes
  • Get the Facts
  • About
  • Donate

Liz Hitchcock / May 9, 2017

EPA: Don’t let industry write the rules on toxic chemicals

Today we were joined by two dozen of our coalition partners in sending a letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt about one of his new hires—a chemical industry advocate who got one of the top spots in the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

Nancy Beck comes to EPA from the American Chemistry Council, a trade group that lobbies for the interests of companies like Dow, Monsanto and ExxonMobil.  Just last month Dr. Beck was testifying before Congress on behalf of the chemical industry. This month, she’s a key decision maker on how to regulate chemicals.

The EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention’s mission is to protect you, your family, and the environment from potential risks from pesticides and toxic chemicals.

One of the top responsibilities of the office is to implement a new chemical safety law—the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act (LCSA). Congress passed the new law last year to strengthen the Toxic Substances Control Act—a 40-year-old law that was so ineffective that EPA couldn’t even ban asbestos. The new law gives EPA new power to test chemicals, evaluate risk and restrict the use of chemicals to protect our health.

As EPA has begun to implement the new law, Dr. Beck has pushed the chemical industry’s agenda. For instance, she signed detailed comments to EPA on its rules for how to prioritize and choose which chemicals to evaluate, and how to evaluate those chemicals. These rules have to be finalized this summer. Dr. Beck will have a direct role in that process.

How can we expect a chemical industry advocate to make decisions that put public health protections ahead of the chemical industry? We called on EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to complete a thorough ethics review and, if she is to remain in her position, inform the public of the recusals and other precautions that will be put in place to prevent conflicts of interest.

We can’t let industry write the rules on toxic chemicals. Join us in calling for a thorough ethics review. Sign the petition to EPA Administrator Pruitt.

Share
Tweet

Filed Under: Policy & Regulation Tagged With: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, Nancy Beck, Scott Pruitt, Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)

Primary Sidebar

person stripping paint

Tell EPA: Ban this deadly chemical from the workplace

Take Action

Subscribe to Posts

Get our latest posts delivered to your inbox.

Get the Facts

These chemicals are linked to serious environmental and health problems. Check out our fact sheets, which draw from the leading peer-reviewed science.

  • Bisphenol A (BPA) & Bisphenol S (BPS)
  • Formaldehyde
  • Methylene chloride
  • Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic Chemicals (PBTs)
  • PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances)
  • Phthalates
  • Toxic flame retardants
Other Chemicals »

Footer

Contact Us

200 Massachusetts Ave NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20001
Email

Search

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

© 2021 Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families — All rights reserved.

  • About Us
  • Privacy policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Feed