White House Has Its Hands on EPA Endocrine Disruptor Program
by Matthew Madia, 10/23/2007
In 1996, Congress passed legislation mandating EPA assess the health impacts of endocrine disruptors — a class of chemicals which affect the way the body regulates mood, growth and development. Until this summer, EPA had made no progress in evaluating the chemicals impacts.
When EPA finally unveiled its endocrine disruptor screening program, which includes risk assessments for evaluating the chemicals, it turned out not to be worth the wait. Critics assailed EPA's program as scientifically flawed and accused the agency of designing experiments to purposefully minimize findings of adverse effects.
Now, the White House Office of Management and Budget is reviewing the structure of the risk assessment and the selection of chemicals that EPA will test.
OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) generally reviews agency proposed and final regulations. However, because of recent changes President Bush made to the regulatory process, OIRA can now review agency "guidance documents." Guidance documents are an ill-defined class of agency information which may include policy interpretations and the research and supporting materials that go into regulation, like EPA's endocrine disruptor screening program.
It is unclear who made the decision to submit the screening program and list of chemicals for review: EPA or OIRA. It may also turn out to be unclear what changes the review ultimately brings. Because of a gross lack of transparency in the OIRA review process, the public is left in the dark.
