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Posted:
January 5, 2011 An industry think tank is
urging the new chairman of the House Oversight & Government Reform
Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), to investigate EPA's endocrine disruptor
screening program (EDSP) as part of the lawmaker's plan to review “job-killing”
regulations from the Obama administration. Issa Dec. 8 sent letters to
150 trade associations, companies and conservative think tanks as he assembles
his agenda for the 112th Congress, which convened Jan. 5. The new chairman
asked for input on new and upcoming federal regulations from EPA and other
agencies that have “negatively impacted job growth” and suggestions for needed
reforms. In a Dec. 24 response, the Center for Regulatory
Effectiveness (CRE) highlighted the potential for what it says are unreliable
EDSP tests to cause EPA to ban pesticides, potentially costing jobs in the
agriculture and chemical industries. “Failing these tests could result in a
product ban or regulations so stringent that persons involved in their
manufacture could lose their jobs,” CRE writes. “Farmers who depend on these
pesticides might be unable to produce a profitable crop.” Industry officials have recently raised concerns about EPA's tight,
two-year deadline for makers of some 67 pesticide ingredients to submit EDSP
tests, noting that the agency has been lax in responding to requests to alter
minor aspects of the testing requirements or respond to suggestions that
existing data meets the same need as the new tests would. CRE in its letter to Issa
echoes those concerns about the reliability of EDSP tests and their potential
impact on the pesticide sector. “These adverse consequences
would be unacceptable, because most of the EDSP tests are unreliable,” the
group tells Issa. “Many of the tests are new, and many of them did not pass
peer review for their accuracy and reliability. Therefore, jobs could be lost
on the basis of tests that have not been demonstrated to be adequate for their
intended use.” Related News: Toxics The New Congress Edit tags |