US Senate poised to approve industry lobbyist to lead chemical safety at EPA | US Senate

The US Senate is set to confirm Donald Trump’s nominee for an industry lobbyist to lead the US Environmental Protection Agency’s office of chemical safety.

If candidate Douglas Troutman is confirmed, the top four toxics office positions at the EPA would be held by former chemical industry lobbyists, campaigners say, creating new fears for the health and safety of the American public, consumers and workers.

“The madmen run the madhouse, and industry is absolutely responsible for chemical safety,” said Scott Faber, vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that lobbies on chemical safety issues. “They will stop at nothing to reverse the progress we have made on toxic chemicals in recent years.”

Troutman is currently the chief lobbyist for the American Cleaning Institute, a trade group that represents cleaning product manufacturers such as BASF, Dow and Procter & Gamble. If approved, it would oversee the EPA. office of chemical safety and pollution prevention.

Among other responsibilities, the office evaluates the safety of new chemicals that industry wants to send to market, reevaluates the safety of previously approved chemicals, and oversees the pesticide program.

One expression In a speech before the Senate environment and public works committee, Troutman used language that suggested he would likely follow the administration’s lead on deregulation.

“I hope to bring a sensible approach to addressing chemical management issues and issues under the belief that economic prosperity and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive,” Troutman said.

He was among industry lobbyists in the 2016 rewrite of the Toxic Substances and Control Act, which aimed to strengthen protections against toxic chemicals. But the industry has successfully tried to close the loopholes that chemical manufacturers and other manufacturers have exploited since then.

Faber, who lobbied against Troutman on the bills, offered an anecdote that he said “sums up who Doug is.”

In 2017, public health advocates, industry, and California lawmakers worked together to develop and pass these practices. legislation It was called the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act, which required the industry to disclose the chemicals used in cleaning products.

Before its passage, content was protected by confidential business information laws. EWG research It found that commonly used cleaning products may contain any of hundreds of volatile organic compounds linked to cancer and other health problems. another one to work It found that frequent use of cleaning products increased the risk of childhood asthma.

Faber said California’s law is one of the nation’s most important chemical transparency laws in terms of protecting consumers.

“This is a big deal because we can’t properly protect consumers from harm without knowing what’s in the products,” Faber said.

But in 2023, public health advocates and many in the industry were caught off guard when then-Congressman Larry Bucshon unexpectedly introduced legislation that would override state laws and repeal the Cleaning Products Right to Know Act, Faber said.

Faber said public health groups and many industry players did not initially know who was behind the repeal effort, called the Cleaning Product Communications Act. However, he added, they soon learned Troutman, who they said was their source.

One Press release Troutman called the legislation at the time “a pro-consumer proposal that provides clarity on how cleaning product manufacturers inform consumers about the ingredients in their products, whether on packaging, online or in-app.”

Even large cleaning companies Clorox And Henkel Faber said he opposed the bill and died without acting, but added that it provided insight into how Troutman might run the chemical safety office.

“The California law was a truly historic breakthrough that united NGOs and industry leaders, and Doug Troutman tried to repeal it,” Faber said.

Other people holding high positions in the chemical safety office include Nancy Beck and Lynn Ann Dekleva. Beck, a deputy administrator in the office, helped lead the industry’s response to new drinking water limits for PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” which are considered among the most toxic man-made substances and are estimated to contaminate the drinking water of at least 143 million people.

Beck, formerly at the Trump EPA and later as an American Chemistry Council lobbyist helped weaken the rules around asbestos, methylene chloride, lead and PCBs.

Dekleva, a deputy assistant administrator in the office of chemical safety, is a former Trump EPA official and DuPont executive who, along with Beck, had been accused of leading a broader effort to interfere with agency science in the chemistry department, including altering reports for political reasons.

“They have a long history at the agency, and we don’t have to guess; we know what they’ve done and what they’re going to do,” said Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which lobbies on toxic chemical issues.

Meanwhile, the new deputy administrator who will oversee the pesticide program, Kyle Kunkler, is a former pesticide industry lobbyist. he was given a 2020 “rising star” award from CropLife, a major agricultural trade group.

Faber said there was little that could be done to stop new chemical safety office leadership from shredding regulations, but added: “We need state powers more than ever.” Hundreds of state laws passed in recent years have banned or imposed restrictions on toxic chemicals, forcing the industry to move away from using them. But the Trump EPA has proposed a new rule aimed at overriding the latest state regulations on toxic chemicals.

“Our only hope now is to uphold state laws,” Faber said.