SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Environmental Protection Agency’s Of-
fice of Research and Development met a pressing 
national need when it created the Integrated Risk 
Information System in 1985 to disseminate scientific 
information on the toxicity of chemicals. 
(2) The Integrated Risk Information System 
(IRIS) is the Nation’s premier database for sci-
entific information on the toxicity of chemicals. 
(3) Researchers, government officials, public 
health experts, and members of the public all rely on 
IRIS for information about health risks associated 
with exposure to chemicals with some 9 million in-
quiries of the database each year. 
(4) IRIS provides important scientific informa-
tion that supports the development of risk assess-
ments of chemicals. 
(5) An estimated 700 new chemicals enter the 
marketplace in the United States each year, pre-
senting a constant challenge to keep the IRIS data-
base up-to-date. 
(6) The Environmental Protection Agency Of-
fice of Research and Development’s efforts to enter 
new scientific information about the toxicity of 
chemicals into the IRIS database has ground to a 
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halt in recent years due to an overly burdensome re-
view process. 
(7) The burdensome new review process has 
slowed new entries to the IRIS database to an aver-
age of just 2 per year. 
(8) The Nation needs more, and more timely, 
scientific assessments of chemicals to guide further 
research and to inform decisions. 
(9) The development and review of chemical as-
sessments for inclusion in the IRIS database must 
be a science-based process managed by the Environ-
mental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and 
Development, and this Office must move more expe-
ditiously to produce assessments without inter-
ference by other Federal offices. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘Assistant Administrator’’ 
means the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Re-
search and Development of the Environmental Protection 
Agency. 
SEC. 4. RESEARCH AND ASSESSMENT. 
(a) DATABASE.—The Assistant Administrator shall 
maintain a publicly accessible database of scientific infor-
mation on the toxicity of chemicals, including— 
(1) hazard identification; 
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(2) dose response assessments; 
(3) reference doses; and 
(4) any other information that would facilitate 
the development of risk assessments. 
(b) FINAL ASSESSMENTS.—The Assistant Adminis-
trator shall publish final assessments for at least 15 new 
chemicals per year and shall publish at least 5 updates 
to existing assessments per year. 
(c) NOMINATIONS FOR TOXICITY ASSESSMENTS.— 
The Assistant Administrator shall solicit nominations for 
chemical assessments from Environmental Protection 
Agency program offices, other Federal agencies, State, 
local, and tribal governments, and the public. 
(d) LIST.—The Assistant Administrator shall issue 
a list of chemicals proposed for assessment 2 years prior 
to the initiation of a chemical’s assessment. A chemical 
assessment shall be completed and made available on the 
database maintained under subsection (a) within 4 years 
after its appearance on a list under this subsection. Such 
list shall not be subject to review or approval by any other 
Federal agency or official. 
SEC. 5. ASSESSMENT REVIEW. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Administrator shall 
determine the information to be used to assess a chemical 
and shall establish a process for reviewing a chemical as-
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sessment prior to its inclusion on the database maintained 
under section 4(a). The process shall include the following: 
(1) Opportunity for public comment by the 
stakeholder community, including other Federal 
agencies that will use the database. 
(2) Opportunity for internal deliberation and 
review in cooperation with other Federal agencies 
with statutory responsibilities over public health or 
whose primary mission is to conduct or support re-
search in the areas of public health or environmental 
protection. 
(3) Peer review of the chemical assessment by 
independent scientists prior to its publication in the 
database. 
(b) EXCLUSIONS.—In establishing the process in sub-
section (a), the Assistant Administrator shall ensure 
that— 
(1) Federal agencies with a real or perceived 
conflict of interest shall not participate in the devel-
opment or internal review of chemical assessments; 
and 
(2) the Assistant Administrator shall develop 
and review chemical assessments without review by 
the President and shall publish final assessments 
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without prior review by the President or any other 
Federal agency or official. 
SEC. 6. INAPPLICABILITY OF BULLETINS. 
The preparation and review of chemical assessments 
shall not be subject to the provisions of Bulletin No. 07– 
02, Final Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices 
and the Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Re-
view of the Office of Management and Budget. 
SEC. 7. BACKLOG OF CHEMICAL ASSESSMENTS. 
For chemical assessments that have been in develop-
ment for IRIS entries prior to the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Assistant Administrator shall finalize and 
publish those entries within 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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