ASDWA Submits Comments on Chemical Substance Prioritization for TSCA

Last month, ASDWA submitted comments to EPA to identify relevant information on chemical substances being considered for prioritization under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Chemical prioritization is the initial step in the TSCA process of evaluating existing chemicals and implementing regulations that can prohibit, restrict, or require monitoring from manufacturers and users of these chemicals in commerce or in disposal. This prioritization is used to determine if chemical substances are a high- or low-priority for risk evaluation. To make these determinations, EPA considers hazard and exposure potential of the chemical substance, persistence and bioaccumulation, storage near significant sources of drinking water, and other relevant criteria.

ASDWA supported actions to keep harmful chemicals out of drinking water and the environment through TSCA. ASDWA emphasized the importance of using a holistic lifecycle approach when managing the production and use of new and existing chemicals and recommended that EPA coordinate with other federal agencies to identify, address, remove, and prevent new or existing chemicals from entering drinking water sources.

Information on the TSCA chemical prioritization process an be found here.