In December 2022, EPA announced updates to its New Chemicals Review Program website to include additional information and metrics on the Agency’s review of new chemicals and significant new uses. In the announcement, the Agency stressed its commitment to increasing efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency through the chemical review process. To progress in this goal, the website will now include:
- A more detailed breakdown of new chemical submissions, including a month-by-month count of new chemical submissions, completed risk assessments, and completed risk management actions for all notices and exemptions.
- Greater details and explanations on each step of the review process. This includes “the extent to which the submitter has provided additional information during the review period – subsequent to the original submission – and the level of effort needed to potentially rework some or all of the risk assessment as a result” and applicability of new approaches developed by the Agency to standardize reviews for certain new chemicals.
- A status tracker for new chemical exemptions (e.g., Low Volume Exemptions (LVEs) and Test Market Exemptions (TMEs)).
According to EPA, the new website will be updated monthly.