Nancy Beck, the highest-ranking executive in EPA’s chemicals office, acknowledged the toxics program is dealing with resource shortages while facing mountains of backlogged work and complicated legal questions.
But those problems, on top of potential budget cuts and a mass staff exodus, haven’t shot her confidence.
“I expect that there will be a lot more bumps in the road in the years to come,” Beck said during a webinar Wednesday afternoon celebrating the ninth anniversary of the Toxic Substances Control Act overhaul. “It took [Leonardo DiCaprio] 30 years to win his Oscar, and it took the Cubs 108 years to win the World Series, so we’re definitely going to need more than nine years when it comes to TSCA implementation.”
Beck, a Trump appointee and former chemical industry lobbyist, is the principal deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. The office is in charge of evaluating chemicals and regulating risky uses — authorities EPA had but were not required to act upon until 2016, when Congress passed the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, which updated the original TSCA statute.
