Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the TSCA Work Plan 

Chemicals Assessment Process. My name is Steve Risotto; I am a Senior Director at the American 

Chemistry Council and have been involved in petitions to the Agency regarding the identification of 2 

chemicals as priorities under the Work Plan program within the last year. My comments today focus 

on general concerns about the prioritization process the Agency used to identify the Work Plan 

chemicals list, using the evidence for these 2 petitioned chemicals for illustration.

In 2011, the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics announced its intent to establish a two-step 

process to “ [quote] identify potential chemicals for near-term review and assignment under TSCA.”

[unquote] In February 2012, the Toxics Office released a Methods Document that outlined the 

prioritization process and identified - for the very first time - 83 chemicals for assessment. The 

Methods Document included numerical scores for Hazard, Exposure, and Persistence and 

Bioaccumulation for each of the listed chemicals, but provided little explanation for the scores 

beyond a general discussion of the methodology used by the Agency.

In October 2014, OPPT released an update to the Methods Document that removed several 

substances from the list of Work Plan chemicals because 

 they no longer presented exposure potential from consumer or commercial use,

 their hazards are well characterized and EPA has a strong risk reduction effort in place, or 

 exposure to the chemical was limited to the workplace and controlled by regulations issued 

by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

As these conclusions apply equally to several other substances that were left on the Work Plan list –

it doesn’t appear that EPA conducted a thorough review. Other chemicals were added to the list in 

2014 based on a conclusion that the potential for exposure was greater than originally concluded –

in spite of the fact that for some of the chemicals nothing had apparently changed.

Neither the 2012 Methods Document nor the 2014 Update was made available for public review and 

comment prior to its release. The Toxics Office has provided no subsequent opportunity for 

stakeholders to provide information on a Work Plan chemical prior to an Agency decision on what 

actions to take on that chemical. Waiting until the problem formulation stage to accept comment on 

whether a Work Plan chemical has - in EPA’s words - the “highest potential for exposure and 

hazard” is too late and is not consistent with Agency guidelines for information quality and 
transparency; nor is this approach conducive to an efficient and effective program for prioritizing 

public health concerns.

Because no other avenue existed, ACC submitted petitions under the Information Quality Act 

relating to the Work Plan listing of two chemicals used exclusively as intermediates in the production 

of other materials. The first chemical – phthalic anhydride – is used as a reactant in the production 

of phthalate plasticizers and various resins. The second substance – ethylene dichloride or EDC –

is used exclusively in the production of vinyl chloride monomer used in the manufacture of polyvinyl 

chloride.

OPPT assigned both of these chemicals the highest score possible for potential exposure

suggesting that –

 One - there is widespread exposures through the use of consumer and commercial products 

despite the fact that neither substance is used in these products, and

 Secondly - that data exist indicating the presence of both substances in biota and the 

environment despite the fact that no such data exist for phthalic anhydride and that the 

Center for Disease Control and Prevention failed to find detectable levels of EDC in the 

blood of over 4,000 individuals sampled between 2003 and 2006 as part of its biomonitoring 

program.

Earlier this year, the Toxics Office announced its intent to start the problem formulation stage for 

EDC and 6 other chlorinated organic substances. Like EDC, 5 of the other 6 substances are used 

exclusively in intermediate applications and present minimal exposure potential. Rather than 

attempt to formulate a problem that doesn’t exist for these chemicals, we strongly encourage OPPT -

with the assistance of this Committee - to review the initial basis for their listing in the Work Plan. 

As part of this Committee’s activities, it is critical that you carefully evaluate the process OPPT used 

to identify the Work Plan chemicals in its 2012 Methods Document and 2014 Update to ensure that 

the process is transparent and scientifically sound. To aid in this review we recommend that –

 EPA establish a public docket for the Work Plan chemicals program that will make available 

all of the information the Agency used for listing the identified chemicals and provide an 

opportunity for public input on the listing decisions; and
 OPPT and this Committee conduct a comprehensive refresh of the Work Plan chemicals list 

to ensure that substances are appropriately prioritized before the Toxics Office initiates any 

additional steps under the program.

Thank you for your attention.