EPA Announces Updated Chemical Review Tool
Agency takes unprecedented step to make additional information about the status of chemical reviews available to the public
WASHINGTON (August 1, 2019) — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is continuing its commitment to transparency by making additional information about new chemical notices available to the public on the agency’s website. Visitors to the updated chemical review status tracker can view and search monthly updates for any active Premanufacture Notice (PMN), Significant New Use Notice (SNUN) and Microbial Commercial Activity Notice (MCAN) of interest by case number. It is important to note that this tool will continue to keep confidential business information confidential.
“By making this tracker available online, for the first time the public will easily be able to learn where a particular new chemical is in the EPA review process,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “With this step the agency is following through on its commitment to transparency and is providing applicants, stakeholders and the public with an easy-to-use tool to monitor the progress of new chemical safety reviews.”
Visitors to the site will also be able to download a spreadsheet with a list of all active cases and each case’s status. Previously, the agency only presented the number of cases in each step of the review process without identifying case numbers. This enhancement supplements the existing status tables describing the received date, the interim status, and final determinations for each case reviewed by EPA since the amendments to Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) were passed in 2016. The update also supports the agency’s ongoing efforts to more efficiently review new chemicals submissions by proactively providing status updates to submitters.
This action is another important step toward meeting EPA’s transparency goals and complements other recent actions, including publishing all new chemical notices and their attachments (May 2019) and publishing information about TSCA Confidential Business Information claim reviews (July 2019). Later this year, website visitors will be able to connect to certain PMN and SNUN cases of interest on ChemView through quick links in our status tracker. The agency plans to continue to increase access to this information next year by increasing the frequency of updates to the tracker. These efforts to enhance the availability of TSCA information reaffirms Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s commitment to increase transparency regarding the work of EPA’s new chemicals program.