American Cleaning Institute says US government delays in reviewing new chemicals have created a bottleneck preventing safer, sustainable products from reaching US market, urges EPA to meet new chemical review requirements to expand sustainable chemistry

The U.S. government is failing to meet its requirements to review new chemicals within 90 days, which has created a bottleneck for new innovative, safer, and environmentally sustainable chemicals from reaching the U.S. market and building the respective benefits to scale, according to comments submitted by American Cleaning Institute (ACI).

ACI’s views were shared with a White House interagency panel tasked with addressing federal sustainable chemistry strategies. That team of experts – part of the National Science and Technology Council – requested feedback on its recently issued “Sustainable Chemistry Report; Framing the Federal Landscape.”

“Sustainable chemistry is a critical area for investment and can be incorporated into many existing statutes in a meaningful way,” wrote Nathan Sell, ACI Senior Director, Sustainability and Blake Nanney, ACI Director, Government Affairs. “We need to ensure that investments made today will continue to align with sustainability goals throughout the lifetime of these programs, helping the U.S. to meet critical milestones needed to address climate change and other environmental concerns.”

In the comments, ACI:

• Urges the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to meet its statutory requirements for new chemical reviews to ensure adequate approvals for sustainable chemistry solutions that are demonstrably safer and more sustainable
• Encourages Congressional leadership to expand the sustainable chemistry sector
• Encourages the expansion of the sustainable chemistry workforce
• Supports sustainable chemistry innovation through an initiative for greater coordination between government, academic, and industry leaders
• Emphasizes the importance of ensuring environmental justice principles are incorporated into sustainable chemistry research and development and commercialization to advance environmental justice goals

“The EPA is failing to meet its requirements to review new chemicals within 90 days, which has created a bottleneck for new innovative, safer, and environmentally sustainable chemicals from reaching the U.S. market and building the respective benefits to scale,” said ACI.

“The lack of consistency and clarity for new chemicals reviews undertaken through EPA’s Premanufacture Notification (PMN) process creates a disincentive for U.S. manufacturers to develop sustainable chemistry products and technologies that could otherwise play an important role in establishing a more permanently sustainable economy.

“Only with a functioning, predictable, and fair process through EPA’s New Chemicals Office, can we expect to drive the development and use of a new generation of sustainable chemistries.”