Environment Risk Management Authority

REACH is based on the idea that the industry itself is best placed to ensure that the chemicals it manufactures and puts on the market in the EU do not adversely affect human health or the environment. This requires that industry has certain knowledge of the properties of its substances and that it manages potential risks safely. Authorities should focus their resources on ensuring that industry is meeting its obligations and on taking action on substances of very high concern or where there is a need for official action. 

Other situations of gradual risk do not involve health but the environment at large, with costs pending on one group of citizens or industries in the acid rain case, conservation of forests and lakes is traded off against increased costs of electricity or energy for the community. The risk management step of any public health problem is thus faced with choices and priorities simultaneous decisions have to be taken by an authority. 

Ecological risk assessment is an integral part of theRI/FS process, which is designed to support risk management decision-making for Superfund sites. (The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 [CERCLA, or Superfund], as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 [SARA], authorizes the USEPA to protect public health and welfare, and the environment from the release or potential release of any hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.) The RI component of the process characterizes the nature and extent of contamination at a hazardous waste site and estimates risks to human health and the environment posed by contaminants at the site. The FS component... 

Safety, Health, and Environment Committees Safety Committee Functions, Responsibilities, and Authorities Permanent Safety Committees Ad Hoc and Temporary Safety Committees System Safety Program Hazard Identification and Risk Management System Safety Methodology... 

In the European Union, a very comprehensive initiative with the aim to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the hazards of chemicals, and to enhance the competitiveness of the EU s chemical industry, is under way. It is referred to as REACIT, which stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals. REACFf places greater responsibility on industry to manage the risk of chemicals and provide appropriate safety information to professional users and, as far as the most hazardous substances, to consumers. New substances need to be registered before they are placed on the market. REACH came in force on June 1, 2007, with a phased implementation over the next decade. There is no doubt that it will affect the UV/EB industry. 

The Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) was passed in 1976 and is contained in 15 USC 2601 et seq. It regulates toxic substances, other than wastes, that are not adequately covered by other statutes. Promulgation of TSCA gave the EPA the authority to manage chemicals from production to final disposal. In fact, if a compound (e.g., carbon tetrachloride) is found to pose unreasonable risk to human health or the environment, the EPA can immediately remove it from commerce. The TSCA s requiring a premanufacture notification (PMN) 90 days prior to manufacture has minimized the occurrence of immediate emergency removal of toxic chemicals. The PMN contains information on the physical/chemical properties, health... 

---