Policy Changes To Ensure CBI Is Claimed Only for Appropriate Information
EPA reconsidered its Confidential Business Information (CBI) policies first on January 21, 2010, when the Agency said it planned to reject CBI claims for chemicals submitted to EPA with studies that show a substantial risk to people's health and the environment and that have been previously disclosed on the TSCA Chemical Inventory.
In a follow-up policy change, issued May 27, 2010, EPA said it planned to generally deny confidentiality claims for the identity of chemicals in health and safety studies filed under TSCA except in specified circumstances.
Where EPA determines that the information is not eligible for confidential treatment, the Agency is taking various actions to make that information available to the public. For example, EPA may notify companies that information is not eligible for CBI, and in those instances where the company will not voluntarily relinquish the claims, EPA may initiate administrative action under Section 14 of TSCA.
In many instances, the information submitters have been proactively releasing the confidential claims in the associated studies. Reasons for voluntary declassification may include that the submitter agrees that the claims were inappropriate at time of submission. Submitters also recognize that CBI claims have limited time validity: what was considered secret and proprietary at time of submission, over time, may no longer be viewed that way.