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GAO-16-111R 1 (2015-10-09)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaajig0001 and id is 1 raw text is: cAO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 October 9, 2015 The Honorable Edward Markey Ranking Member Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight Committee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate Chemicals Management: Observations on Human Health Risk Assessment and Management by Selected Foreign Programs Dear Senator Markey: To manage the thousands of chemicals in commercial use, decision makers around the world rely on information derived from assessments that examine the risks these substances may pose to human health and the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program and others conduct such assessments. EPA's assessments provide a foundation for the agency's risk management decisions, such as whether to establish air and water quality standards to protect the public from exposure to particular toxic chemicals. Consequently, risk assessments are a critical component of EPA's capacity to support scientifically sound environmental decisions, policies, and regulations under a variety of statutes. Various foreign programs, such as Canada's Chemicals Management Plan (CMP), Australia's Inventory Multi-tiered Assessment and Prioritisation (IMAP) framework, and the World Health Organization's (WHO)1 International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monographs Programme and International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) also conduct risk assessments or components of risk assessments.2 In addition, foreign programs and foreign countries, including Canada, take risk management actions to prevent and reduce threats posed by chemicals to human health and the environment. We have repeatedly reported that EPA's ability to fulfill its mission of protecting public health and the environment is critically dependent on credible and timely assessments of the risks posed by chemicals.3 In January 2009, we added transforming EPA's processes for assessing 1The WHO directs and coordinates international health within the United Nations' system. The United States is one of 194 WHO member states. 2Risk assessments typically include four components: hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. According to their representatives, WHO's IARC Monographs Programme produces the hazard identification component of an assessment, while the other three programs produce all four components. Other foreign programs, including those in the European Union, also conduct risk assessments. Due to ongoing trade negotiations between the United States and the European Union that address, among other things, coordination of chemical regulatory regimes, we did not include European Union entities in our review. 3GAO, Chemical Assessments: Low Productivity and New Interagency Review Process Limit the Usefulness and Credibility of EPA's Integrated Risk Information System, GAO-08-440 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 7, 2008); Chemical Assessments: Challenges Remain with EPA's Integrated Risk Information System Program, GAO-1 2-42 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 9, 2011); and Chemical Assessments: An Agencywide Strategy May Help EPA Address Unmet Needs for Integrated Risk Information System Assessments, GAO-i 3-369 (Washington, D.C.: May 10, 2013). GAO-16-111R Foreign Chemicals Management Page 1

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