July 2007 - CERCLA Chemicals to De-list or Retain

Recommendation to the Toxics Use Reduction Act Administrative Council from The Toxics Use Reduction Institute on the Statutory Requirement to Review CERCLA Chemicals

The 2006 TURA Amendments required the Science Advisory Board (SAB) and TURI to review the existing chemicals on the toxic or hazardous substance list originating from the CERCLA[1] chemical list and make a recommendation to the Council as to which chemicals should be retained.[2] Our statutory deadline for this review is August 1, 2007. The Council has until August 1, 2008, to act on these recommendations.

In response to this requirement, the SAB undertook a review of the scientific data for each chemical pertaining to human health risk and environmental impact. The list of CERCLA chemicals was divided into the following categories:

A. Chemicals which had ever been reported by any company under TURA. These chemicals have been used by at least one company in at least one year in quantities exceeding the 25,000/10,000 lb reporting thresholds (See Lists A1, A2, and A3)

B.Chemicals which had never been reported by a company under TURA. These chemicals have never been used in amounts exceeding the reporting thresholds. (See List B)

C. Specific CERCLA chemicals that are included within one of the EPCRA/TURA chemical categories (See List C) These chemicals have never been reportable as individual chemicals, only as the chemical category. Removing them "cleans up" the list and reduces confusion for TURA filers.

Read the full communication to the TURA Administrative Council.