President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead EPA’s chemicals office echoed the administration’s goals to expedite new chemical reviews in the name of “energy dominance,” but hedged on specifics during his confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Douglas Troutman, nominated to lead the agency’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, told senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee he would aim “to bring a reasoned approach to engaging chemical management matters and issues under the belief that economic prosperity and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive.”
Troutman would oversee the review and permitting processes for industrial chemicals and pesticides if confirmed to the office, which EPW Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said is “an office with well-documented problems and high stakes for the country in successfully addressing them.”
For decades, EPA safety determinations on new chemicals were optional, and only around 20 percent of chemical submissions made it through the full review process. That changed in 2016, when Congress amended the Toxic Substances Control Act with a new requirement that EPA must review and restrict, if necessary, any potential risks before a new chemical can be used within 180 days, maximum.
