ChAMP

More on Managing Existing Chemicals

The Chemical Assessment and Management Program (ChAMP) is aimed at broadening EPA’s efforts to ensure the safety of existing chemicals. The program is increasing the number of chemicals for which EPA is making screening-level risk and hazard characterizations available to the public, and will be using the data to prioritize and categorize the chemicals as to whether additional control measures are needed to address potential risks.

ChAMP was created to implement commitments the United States made at the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) Leaders’ Summit, in Montebello, Canada, in August 2007.

These commitments build on EPA’s efforts under the High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Program, which is making health and environmental effects data publicly available on chemicals produced or imported in the United States in quantities of 1 million pounds or more per year. ChAMP extends this effort to include moderate- production volume chemicals.

ChAMP will implement the U.S. commitment under SPP to complete, by 2012, screening-level risk characterizations and initiate action, as appropriate, on high- and moderate- production volume chemicals (MPV) produced at quantities greater than or equal to 25,000 pounds per year. These are estimated to number 6,750, based on preliminary statistics from 2006 Inventory Update Reporting data.

EPA is also communicating with stakeholders regarding the possibility of initiating, through ChAMP, an HPV Challenge-type program for HPV “inorganic” chemicals, and “resetting” the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory to update it to accurately reflect the chemicals that are currently being used in commerce.

EPA has developed a screening process for assessing and prioritizing HPV and MPV chemicals using hazard, exposure, and use information. Based on this evaluation, the Agency will evaluate potential risks, and then create and post to the Agency’s Web site “prioritizations” that identify:

If the chemical is a low priority and requires no further action,
Whether additional data or testing is needed to better characterize the chemical, or
Whether specific control measures need to be initiated to address potential risks.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson announced the creation of ChAMP in his keynote speech at the “Global Chemical Regulation Conference” in Baltimore, MD, in March 2008. He said EPA would begin talking to a wide range of stakeholders on possible enhancements to ChAMP, including the HPV Challenge-type program for HPV inorganic chemicals and "resetting" the TSCA inventory.

Accomplishments

EPA held a series of stakeholder meetings, including a public meeting on May 2, 2008, to encourage input from stakeholders on development of ChAMP initiatives, including:

Meeting SPP goals by 2012,
Developing an HPV Challenge-type program for “inorganic” HPV chemicals, and
Options to potentially reset the TSCA Inventory.

EPA is evaluating the stakeholder input and plans to have recommendations for whether and how to proceed by the end of the summer 2008.

By June 2008, the Agency posted hazard characterizations for 275 chemicals to its Web site and posted risk-based prioritizations for 19 HPV chemicals. Based on experience developing this first set of prioritizations and feedback received from stakeholders, EPA has streamlined the preparation of, and improved the presentation of, information within the prioritizations.

EPA is actively developing prioritizations for additional chemicals and expects to complete prioritizations for an additional 200 high- and moderate- production volume chemicals in 2008. For information on the progress of these documents, visit the ChAMP Web site.

Read more information on SPP and ChAMP, as well as other sections of this report on HPV, HPVIS, International Work, and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM).

ChAMP

More on Managing Existing Chemicals

Accomplishments

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