U.S. Chamber Calls on Congress To Investigate EPA's Use of Faulty Data

WASHINGTON, DC—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called on Congress to investigate why the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refuses to stop employing and disseminating faulty data used in the regulatory process that can cause businesses to spend tens of millions of dollars unnecessarily.

In a letter sent today to the House Energy and Commerce and House Government Reform Committees, the Chamber asked Congress to hold oversight hearings and request a GAO report on why EPA refuses to correct faulty data contained in numerous databases and models. The Chamber identified the flaws in a Request for Correction that has been pending since May 2004. EPA's faulty data is used throughout the government and by industry to perform risk assessments and in determining how to remediate Superfund and hazardous waste sites as well as for cleanup of water bodies.

"The apparent lack of progress toward addressing the Chamber's simple request is ridiculous," said William Kovacs, vice president of the Chamber's environment, technology & regulatory affairs division. "Meanwhile, American businesses are spending tens of millions of dollars to comply with regulations based on bad science when they could be spending it on job creation or enhanced health benefits."

When EPA denied the Chamber's Request for Correction on May 27, 2004, the Chamber filed a Request for Reconsideration on April 11, 2005, which continues to languish at EPA. "All that we ask of EPA is that it initiate an inter-governmental consultation among the various federal agencies that use or disseminate physical chemical data and find a way to harmonize and improve the reliability of data that are used for regulatory and other purposes," said Kovacs. "Why should it take two years to make a decision on correcting faulty data?"

Third Party submissions filed with EPA in July and October 2005 by scientists at the world-renowned Swiss Federal Institute of Environmental Science and Technology and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology lend strong support for the findings described in the Chamber's data quality petition, which focused on data used in understanding how chemicals are distributed in the environment, in performing risk assessments, and in determining remedial action measures. The Swiss organizations also noted the existence of a broad range of data quality problems associated with physical chemical data used by government agencies and other parties and stressed the crucial need for data harmonization.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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06-03

Editors Note: A copy of the Chamber' letter is available online.