By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On May 16, 2023, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released publicly a report on its priority open recommendations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). GAO’s priority recommendations include three in the area of “assessing and controlling toxic chemicals.” According to GAO, EPA’s ability to protect effectively public health and the environment depends on credible and timely assessments of the risks posed by toxic chemicals, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). GAO states that implementing the following three priority recommendations in this area, such as by establishing an ongoing process to assess the resources required to complete successfully Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) chemical assessments, would improve EPA’s ability to prepare and issue the assessments:

• To develop the timely chemical risk information that EPA needs to conduct its mission effectively, the EPA Administrator should require the Office of Research and Development (ORD) to reevaluate its draft proposed changes to the IRIS assessment process in light of the issues raised in the report and ensure that any revised process periodically assesses the level of resources that should be dedicated to this significant program to meet user needs and maintain a viable IRIS database. According to GAO, as of February 2023, officials from ORD’s Chemical and Pollutant Assessment Division (CPAD) had conducted an analysis of the resources needed to produce chemical assessments, including IRIS assessments and Provisional Peer-Reviewed Toxicity Values. The analysis concluded by noting that CPAD is under-resourced and expects to experience a continued increase in its workload in coming years, thereby worsening the gap between what EPA offices need and what CPAD is able to produce. GAO states that CPAD’s analysis did not identify specific metrics for assessing the effectiveness of EPA’s staff recruitment and retention strategies or whether current resource allocations are helping CPAD meet the targets established in various EPA strategic action plans. GAO will keep the recommendation open until CPAD updates its analysis to include more specific metrics, which will help EPA determine the effectiveness of its recruitment and retention strategies.
   
• To ensure better the credibility of IRIS assessments by enhancing their timeliness and certainty, the EPA Administrator should require ORD to establish a written policy that clearly describes the applicability of the timeframes for each type of IRIS assessment and ensures that the timeframes are realistic and provide greater predictability to stakeholders. According to GAO, as of March 2023, EPA officials were considering ways to provide additional documentation to help stakeholders better understand the timeframes for completing IRIS assessments. GAO “encourage[s] EPA to provide its program offices with documentation of how long it takes to complete each of these different types of assessments to reduce uncertainty for stakeholders with significant interests in IRIS assessments.”
   
• The EPA Administrator should include in ORD’s strategic plan (or subsidiary strategic plans) identification of EPA’s universe of chemical assessment needs; how the IRIS program is being resourced to meet user needs; and specific implementation steps that indicate how IRIS will achieve the plan’s objectives, such as specific metrics to define progress in meeting user needs. GAO states that it will keep this recommendation open until CPAD updates its analysis to include such specific metrics and more information is available for GAO to determine the extent to which EPA management has used CPAD’s analysis to balance its workload with available resources. This would ensure EPA and CPAD can better identify and meet user needs.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report on April 26, 2023, entitled “Persistent Chemicals: Actions Needed to Improve DOD’s Ability to Prevent the Procurement of Items Containing PFAS.” GAO notes that starting April 2023, the Department of Defense (DOD) was prohibited from procuring items in four categories if they contain certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 includes a provision for GAO to review DOD’s procurement of items containing PFAS. GAO evaluated the information available to DOD regarding PFAS in items and the extent to which the April 2023 prohibition aligns with this information; it also evaluated the extent to which DOD has developed an approach to implement the April 2023 prohibition on items containing PFAS.
 
GAO states that it reviewed PFAS detection methods, labeling standards, and statutes; assessed DOD procurement practices and guidelines; and interviewed officials from DOD, other federal agencies, labeling organizations, industry associations, and environmental advocacy groups. It found that there is limited information on PFAS in items “because there is no federal law requiring items to be labeled as containing PFAS and there are no Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-validated methods to detect PFAS in products.” GAO notes that EPA has created a list of recommended third-party standards and ecolabels that addresses the presence of PFAS in some items. According to GAO, its analysis of 11 item categories found that EPA information on PFAS exists for four, two of which relate to the statutory prohibition for DOD. For the seven other item categories, there are no EPA-recommended third-party standards or ecolabels. GAO provides a summary of the information available from EPA on the presence of PFAS in item categories:
 

 
GAO notes that, in addition, the April 2023 prohibition does not allow two PFAS to be present at any level. According to EPA officials, several of the third-party standards or ecolabels allow for PFAS to be present at low levels, however, such as through exposure to environmental sources of PFAS during the manufacturing process. GAO states that as a result, DOD does not have all the information needed to implement the prohibitions fully.
 
According to GAO, DOD has taken steps to implement the April 2023 prohibition, including updating procurement policy for contracting officers and guidance for procurement of goods by government purchase cards. GAO notes that DOD has not assessed how to prevent military exchanges from procuring and reselling certain goods that could contain PFAS, however. Further, DOD has not updated its sustainable procurement guidance to reflect statutory prohibitions. GAO states that as a result, DOD is at risk of continuing to procure items that contain certain statutorily prohibited PFAS.
 
GAO states that it is making it a matter for Congressional consideration to align the item categories specified in the April 2023 prohibition with EPA information. GAO is also making two recommendations to DOD to develop an approach for applying the April 2023 prohibition to the military exchanges and to update its sustainable procurement guidance. According to GAO, DOD concurred with the recommendations.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On April 20, 2023, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its updated High Risk List, which highlights 37 areas across the federal government that are vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement, or that need broad reform. The High Risk List includes “Transforming EPA’s Process for Assessing and Controlling Toxic Chemicals.” GAO states that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to implement its mission of protecting public health and the environment effectively depends on its assessing the risks posed by chemicals in commerce and those that have yet to enter commerce in a credible and timely manner. EPA supports the evaluation of such risks through its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) and by implementing the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). According to GAO, because EPA had not developed sufficient chemical assessment and risk information under these programs to limit exposure to many chemicals that may pose substantial health risks, GAO added this issue to the High-Risk List in 2009. GAO reports that overall ratings for four criteria -- leadership commitment, capacity, action plan, and demonstrated progress -- remain unchanged since 2021. The overall rating for monitoring increased to partially met. For IRIS, leadership commitment, monitoring, and demonstrated progress increased to partially met. For TSCA, leadership commitment increased to met, and action plan and monitoring increased to partially met. GAO notes that as of February 2023, five recommendations related to the management of toxic chemicals remain open, such as:

• Periodically assessing the demand for chemical assessments and the resources needed to produce IRIS assessments; and
• Developing a process and timeline to ensure EPA’s workforce planning efforts fully align with relevant planning principles and incorporating the results, as appropriate, into EPA’s annual plan for chemical risk evaluations under TSCA. According to GAO, this will help ensure EPA can effectively implement its TSCA review responsibilities. In February 2023, GAO reported that strategic workforce planning is essential in helping agencies align their workforces with their current and emerging missions and that it also helps them develop long-term strategies for recruiting, developing, and retaining staff. More information on GAO’s February 2023 report is available in our February 24, 2023, memorandum.

GAO states that continued congressional oversight of EPA’s workforce planning efforts is needed to help ensure EPA identifies the resources it needs to assess and control toxic chemicals. According to GAO, this area has realized more than ten benefits since it was added to the High-Risk List in 2009, including:

• The IRIS Program increased its coordination with other EPA offices and external federal entities. This will help ensure the offices avoid duplicative work on chemical assessments, can assist each other with obtaining chemical data, and use many of the same chemical evaluation tools and techniques for greater consistency in final products; and
• The Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) completed a skills gap assessment in March 2021 that included hiring targets and anticipated attrition counts for various years. This helped EPA better understand its future workforce needs for implementing TSCA and informed its budget request for fiscal year 2023.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on October 19, 2022, entitled “Persistent Chemicals: EPA Should Use New Data to Analyze the Demographics of Communities with PFAS in Their Drinking Water.” The Congressional requesters asked GAO to examine per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in drinking water and related state actions. GAO’s report examines what recent data from selected states show about the occurrence of PFAS in drinking water; the demographic characteristics of communities in selected states with and without PFAS in their drinking water; and factors that influenced states’ decisions to test and develop standards or guidance for PFAS in drinking water. GAO states that recent drinking water data from six selected states show that at least 18 percent of the states’ 5,300 total water systems had at least two PFAS -- perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) --above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2022 interim revised health advisory levels. GAO found that 978 water systems had the two PFAS at or above EPA’s minimum reporting level of 4 parts per trillion (ppt), the lowest level reliably quantified by most laboratories, and above EPA’s health advisory levels. The demographic characteristics of communities with PFAS in their drinking water varied in the states GAO examined. GAO states that according to EPA officials, EPA does not currently have information to determine the extent to which disadvantaged communities are exposed to PFAS in drinking water nationally; EPA plans to collect comprehensive nationwide data, however.
 
GAO states that according to state officials, public health and PFAS contamination concerns influenced some states’ decisions to test and develop enforceable standards or nonenforceable guidance for PFAS in drinking water. As of July 2022, six states set standards and were influenced to do so by public health concerns. When the states set standards, the levels they set were more stringent than EPA’s 2016 lifetime health advisory levels. Fourteen additional states developed guidance or began developing standards because of PFAS contamination.
 
GAO recommends that EPA conduct a nationwide analysis using comprehensive data to determine the demographic characteristics of communities with PFAS in their drinking water. EPA agreed with the recommendation.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On July 8, 2022, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) publicly released its 2022 update on its priority open recommendations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In June 2021, GAO identified 22 priority recommendations for EPA. According to GAO, EPA has since implemented ten of those recommendations by requiring states to report quarterly to EPA on the number of lead service lines in each public water system in the state and providing direction to staff on integrating climate change information into risk assessments at nonfederal Superfund sites, as well as other actions. GAO states that it is not adding any additional priority recommendations this year. The total number of priority recommendations remaining is 12. These recommendations involve the following areas:

• Assessing and controlling toxic chemicals;
• Reducing pollution in the nation’s waters;
• Ensuring cybersecurity at EPA;
• Addressing data and risk communication issues for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure;
• Managing climate change risks; and
• Protecting the nation’s air quality.

According to GAO, EPA’s continued attention to these issues could lead to significant improvements in government operations.
 
Regarding assessing and controlling toxic chemicals, GAO states that EPA’s ability to help protect public health and the environment effectively “depends on credible and timely assessments of risks posed by toxic chemicals,” including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). According to GAO, by implementing the following four priority recommendations in this area, EPA would improve its ability to prepare and issue Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) chemical assessments:

• To develop the timely chemical risk information that EPA needs to conduct its mission effectively, the EPA Administrator should require the Office of Research and Development (ORD) to re-evaluate its draft proposed changes to the IRIS assessment process in light of the issues raised in GAO’s 2008 report and “ensure that any revised process periodically assesses the level of resources that should be dedicated to this significant program to meet user needs and maintain a viable IRIS database.”
• To ensure better the credibility of IRIS assessments by enhancing their timeliness and certainty, the EPA Administrator should require ORD to establish a written policy that clearly describes the applicability of the timeframes for each type of IRIS assessment and ensures that the timeframes are realistic and provide greater predictability to stakeholders.
• The EPA Administrator should direct the Assistant Administrator of ORD to provide more information publicly about where chemical assessments are in the development process, including internal and external steps in the process, and changes to assessment milestones.
• The EPA Administrator should include in ORD’s strategic plan (or subsidiary strategic plans) identification of EPA’s universe of chemical assessment needs; how the IRIS Program is being resourced to meet user needs; and specific implementation steps that indicate how IRIS will achieve the plan’s objectives, such as specific metrics to define progress in meeting user needs.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson, Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) posted a WatchBlog item entitled “Can Chemical Recycling Reduce Plastic Pollution?” on October 5, 2021. The item looks at GAO’s September 2021 Science & Tech Spotlight: Advanced Plastic Recycling. According to GAO, chemical recycling could reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills, potentially reducing the release of chemicals into the environment. Chemical recycling can produce high-quality raw materials, decreasing the demand for fossil fuels and other natural resources. GAO states that the obstacles to using chemical recycling include process and technology challenges, high startup and operating costs, and limited incentives for recycling innovation and investment. GAO notes that new plastics produced from fossil fuels are typically cheaper to produce than recycled plastics, in part due to transportation costs and limited recycling infrastructure, making recycled plastics less marketable. Key questions for policymakers include:

• What steps could the federal government, states, and other stakeholders take to further incentivize chemical recycling rather than disposal? What are the potential benefits and challenges of these approaches?
   
• What steps could policymakers take to support a transition toward a circular economy -- one in which products are not disposed of but are recycled for reuse including innovation -- and investment in manufacturing and recycling capacity?
   
• What might policymakers do to promote advanced recycling technologies while also reducing the hazards associated with existing plastic production and recycling methods?

One issue that GAO fails to consider is the regulatory status of depolymerized plastic. If a polymer cannot be reduced back to the exact starting monomers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) views the depolymerized plastic as a substance that is different from the starting monomers. Furthermore, making a polymer with depolymerized plastic is, according to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) nomenclature rules, different than the virgin polymer. These nomenclature complications will likely be a barrier to the commercialization of the closed-loop chemical recycling of plastics.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On March 2, 2021, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published its latest High Risk List, which includes 36 areas across the federal government vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement or needing broad-based transformation.  According to GAO, five areas have regressed since 2019, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) process for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals.  GAO’s report, High-Risk Series: Dedicated Leadership Needed to Address Limited Progress in Most High-Risk Areas, states that this high-risk area declined in the monitoring criterion from a partially met rating in 2019 to a not met rating in 2021; three criteria in each of the two segments declined to a not met rating in 2021.  GAO notes that the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program did not issue a completed chemical assessment between August 2018 and December 2020, and EPA (1) did not indicate how it was monitoring its assessment nomination process to ensure it was generating quality information about chemical assessment needs; and (2) lacked implementation steps and resource information in its strategic plan and metrics to define progress in the IRIS Program.  Additionally, according to GAO, EPA’s programs supporting the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (1) did not complete workforce or workload planning to ensure the agency can meet TSCA deadlines; and (2) did not meet initial statutory deadlines for releasing its first ten chemical risk evaluations.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On March 1, 2021, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) publicly released a report entitled Man-Made Chemicals and Potential Health Risks:  EPA Has Completed Some Regulatory-Related Actions for PFAS.  GAO was asked to examine the status of regulatory-related actions in EPA’s 2019 Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Action Plan.  GAO found that EPA completed three of six selected regulatory-related actions for addressing PFAS outlined in the PFAS Action Plan.  For two of the three completed actions, the steps EPA took were also in response to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020 (FY20 NDAA):

• After proposing a supplemental significant new use rule (SNUR) in February 2020, EPA met a June 2020 deadline set in the FY20 NDAA when the EPA Administrator signed the final rule.  Among other things, under the final rule, articles containing certain PFAS as a surface coating, and carpet containing certain PFAS, can no longer be imported into the United States without EPA review; and
   
• EPA incorporated 172 PFAS into the Toxics Release Inventory in June 2020.  The FY20 NDAA directed EPA to take this action, extending EPA’s original planned action to explore data for listing PFAS chemicals to the inventory.

Finally, in March 2020, EPA completed a third regulatory-related action, not required under the FY20 NDAA, when it proposed a preliminary drinking water regulatory determination for two PFAS, “an initial step toward regulating these chemicals in drinking water.”
According to GAO, three of the six selected regulatory-related actions are ongoing, and EPA’s progress on these actions varies:

• As of August 2020, EPA was developing a proposed rulemaking for a nationwide drinking water monitoring rule that includes PFAS, which EPA officials stated that EPA intends to issue in final by December 2021;
   
• EPA is currently examining available information about PFAS discharges to surface water to identify industrial sources that may warrant further study for potential regulation through EPA’s National Effluent Limitations Guidelines.  EPA expects to publish a final Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 14 in early 2021 that will include an update on the current status of EPA’s multi-industry study; and
   
• EPA plans to continue the regulatory process for designating two PFAS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), which would allow EPA to require responsible parties to conduct or pay for cleanup.  On January 14, 2021, EPA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking for the hazardous substances designation to obtain public comment and data to inform EPA’s ongoing evaluation of the two PFAS.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson, Charles M. Auer, and Carla N. Hutton

GAO released on March 6, 2019, a report entitled High-Risk Series:  Substantial Efforts Needed to Achieve Greater Progress on High-Risk Areas.  GAO’s high-risk program identifies government operations with vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or in need of transformation to address economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges.  GAO’s report describes the status of high-risk areas and outlines actions necessary to assure further progress.  GAO states that in the two years since its last high-risk report, three areas, including “Transforming EPA’s Process for Assessing and Controlling Toxic Chemicals,” have regressed in their ratings against GAO’s criteria for removal from the High-Risk List.  GAO notes that since adding this area to its High-Risk List in 2009, it has made 12 recommendations to EPA related to the IRIS Program and TSCA.  According to GAO, while EPA has taken steps to manage chemicals that pose risks to human health and the environment, leadership and implementation challenges remain.  More information is available in B&C’s March 8, 2019, memorandum, “EPA’s Process for Assessing and Controlling Toxic Chemicals Remains on GAO’s High-Risk List.”

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By Lynn L. Bergeson, Charles M. Auer, Oscar Hernandez, Ph.D., Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., and Carla N. Hutton

On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report titled Chemical Assessments:  Status of EPA’s Efforts to Produce Assessments and Implement the Toxic Substances Control Act.  The report describes the extent to which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program has addressed identified challenges and made progress toward producing chemical assessments; and assesses whether EPA has demonstrated progress implementing the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  GAO reviewed documents from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and EPA and interviewed EPA officials and representatives from two environmental and two industry stakeholder organizations.  GAO found that while EPA made improvements in the IRIS Program, between June and December 2018, EPA leadership directed the Program to stop the assessment process during discussions about program priorities.  GAO states that while EPA has responded to initial statutory deadlines in TSCA, as amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg Act), challenges remain.  Read the full memorandum for more information on the report including why GAO did the study, GAO’s findings, and an insightful commentary.

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