^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

EPA Publishes EDSP Guidance for Comment
On November 4, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published its draft guidance document titled, ``Weight-of-Evidence Guidance Document: Evaluating Results of EDSP Tier 1 Screening to Identify Candidate Chemicals for Tier 2 Testing.'' EPA asks for public comment on this document on or before January 3, 2011.

EPA is taking this action pursuant to a directive from the House Appropriations Committee FY 2010 Report. This report directs EPA to develop and publish criteria by October 30, 2010, for evaluating results of Tier 1 screening and determining whether a chemical should undergo Tier 2 analysis. The purpose of the weight-of-evidence document is to set forth some of the general principles, criteria, and considerations EPA generally believes to be relevant under a WoE approach for evaluating data submitted as part of EPA's two-tiered paradigm for screening and testing chemicals for endocrine activity under the EDSP. This document purports to provide a transparent scientific approach for broadly evaluating Tier 1 screening data to detect an interaction with certain hormonal to systems and determine if additional Tier 2 testing is necessary.