April 23, 2007

Toxics Use Reduction Institute Science Advisory Board Meeting Minutes

April 23, 2007

Members Present: Larry Boise, Chris Swartz, Hilary Eustace, Dave Williams, Beth Rosenberg

Others present: Heather Tenney (TURI), Mike Ellenbecker (TURI), John Raschko (OTA)

Welcome and Introductions

Minutes:March minutes approved as written.

Program updates

• Travel reimbursements - Heather checked the status of W-9 form submittals by the members.
• Board appointments - Mike indicated that the appointment package has been submitted to EOEEA's Legal staff for processing. He was told by Dave Cash of EOEEA that processing of the package will begin following a decision on OTA's role.
• The House's FY08 budget included an increase in TURI's funding, which could impact the Board's activities.
• The new TURA Executive Director in EOEA has not yet been appointed.

More Hazardous Chemicals

The information supplied by Chris Swartz on the redox chemistry of Cr+3 and Cr+6 in the environment will be discussed at the May meeting in regard to the Board's interest in recommending that Cr+3 and Cr+6 compounds be made separately reportable so that Cr+6 compounds can be added to the More Hazardous list.

Less Hazardous Chemicals

The Board discussed the information provided by Hilary Eustace concerning whether worker exposure is an issue for 5 CERCLA-only iron compounds in the pool of candidate chemicals (ferric chloride, ferric sulfate, ferrous chloride, ferrous sulfate, and ferrous ammonium sulfate). The members agreed to drop these chemicals from the list of chemicals to be considered for designation as Less Hazardous.
The discussion proceeded to identifying the first group of 10 chemicals to be designated as Less Hazardous. Hilary confirmed that MEK had been delisted by EPA under the TRI program, which makes it a CERCLA-only chemical under TURA. The remaining pool of potential Less Hazardous chemicals was reviewed to identify which were EPCRA chemicals and which were CERCLA-only chemicals. A motion was made to designate all 6 candidate EPCRA chemicals as Less Hazardous to maintain their status as having been designated Less Hazardous in the categorization of the TURA list done in the late 90's. These 6 chemicals are n-butyl alcohol, sec-butyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, methanol, silver in alloy form (except in a silver/copper alloy, which has already been delisted from TURA), and zinc in alloy form. The motion passed unanimously.
The 4 candidate CERCLA-only chemicals (acetic acid (>12% concentration since lower concentrations of this chemical have been delisted from TURA), acetone, MEK and isobutyl alcohol) were then discussed. A motion was made to designate acetic acid (>12% concentration) and acetone as Less Hazardous based on the past TURA delisting decisions for these chemicals in which they were not delisted. This motion also passed unanimously. The members discussed whether MEK should be designated as Less Hazardous, but decided to table further discussion until the May meeting when they plan to review EPA's justification for delisting the chemical from TRI. With regard to isobutyl alcohol, the Board decided to reconsider its decision, made at the March meeting, to retain this CERCLA-only chemical on the TURA list. Since this decision was influenced by input from Carol Rowan West, who was not present at this meeting, further discussion was tabled until the May meeting, and Heather will contact Carol for additional information.
In summary, based on discussions to-date, the Board has recommended that 8 chemicals be designated as Less Hazardous.

Review of CERCLA-only Chemicals

The Board started their review of all the CERCLA-only chemicals in order to recommend which ones should remain on the TURA list. They started this effort with the approximately 50 CERCLA-only chemicals that have ever been reported, excluding the CERCLA-only chemicals they have already reviewed in designating Less Hazardous chemicals. Heather noted that she will correct the list of chemicals the Board is using to remove those materials that are reportable under EPCRA as compound categories.
The first chemicals discussed were butyl benzyl phthalate and NaOH, since they were the subject of past delisting petitions reviewed by the Board. There was disagreement among the members concerning letting butyl benzyl phthalate drop from the TURA list. For NaOH, a motion was made to retain it on the TURA list based on the Board's past recommendation to not delist it and the fact that there is no new information to support changing this recommendation. Four members approved the motion, with Larry Boise abstaining. It was pointed out that ethyl acetate, a CERCLA-only chemical the Board decided to drop from the list at the March meeting, was also the subject of a past delisting petition where the Board recommended against delisting it. Consequently, the members decided to reconsider the decision to drop ethyl acetate from the list at the May meeting by reviewing the past delisting discussion.
The Board requested additional information for their review of the following chemicals - butyl benzyl phthalate, chlorosulfonic acid, 2-chlorophenol, paraformaldehyde, 1,2-dichloroethylene, tetrahydrofuran, and benzenethiol - which Heather will provide. The Board was asked to send their lists of chemicals to remain on the TURA list to Heather before the May meeting.

Next Meeting:May 21, 2007

Adjourn