E
PA is responsible for regulating and enforcing some 20 environmental laws, most of which focus on one medium (the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act). Severa1 of the statutes require EPA to regulate lists of environmental pollutants, most of which are chemicals. EPA now has 31 lists of chemicals and chemical substances that it regulates under the 20 laws or regulations, and estimates that there may be as many B as 45: the 31 EPA currently boasts are definitely the most important and the most visible. A computerized database is the only way such lists could be managed. ECLIPS, or Environmental Chemical Listings Information Pointer System, is the software package that runs the Register of Lists (RoL). A user enters a chemical identifier and the system “points” to where the user can obtain additional information,for example the appropriate program office or the list manager. The RoL is actually made up of two components-the database for which EPA is responsible-and ECLIPS, w h i c h i s maintained by MiCroReg, Inc. (Crofton, MD). The database was started in 1991 and now contains 3475 chemicals and chemical substances. At first, it was available only to the EPA Office of Policy and Program Evaluation [OPPE), but in mid-October other federal agencies will have access to the 31 lists, according to OPPE’s ~~
views a insiphfful commenbfies on timely envirOn;n&td topics, represent an author’s opinion, and do not necessnrilyrepmsent oposition ofthesociety or editors. Contmsting views nre invited. 2302
James Daley, manager of the RoL. The RoL project is an effort by EPA to create an official register of all EPA statutory and regulatory chemical and chemical substances lists and to establish a mechanism to ensure the continual updating of the register as
Y STANTON MILL
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able through EPA. The RoL bas been in the agency’s regional libraries for more than a year. Not all of the chemical substances in the database have numbers assigned by the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) in Columbus, OH. RoL has other categories for ’landling these subrtances. For example, ;he RCRA uroeram regulates mi;a&s or waste streams, which are categorized as “WASTE STREAMS’; other substances are treated as “NO CAS NO.” or as “CATEGO ER RY.” An example of the latter would be “Copper and compounds.’’ For example, CAS compound 92-53-4 is 1,l’ biphenyl. There is also a synonym file: for exmple, there are nine )ther names for 1,l‘biphenyl. All the synonyms have the same CAS number. In the synonymous file are 10,572records.
Some searches The searching capability of the system is very flexible. For example, you might ask how many compounds on one specific list are on a second specific list. The computer looks for intersections between the two lists. Both the chemical and the synonym files are fully searchable, that is, you can search on names or do a string search using a name segment. For example, you could search for t h e c h a r a c t e r strine “ORMALD” and come up with the status of chemicals and chemical formaldehyde and all other chemisubstances changes. cals or synonyms that contain that The ECLIPS software package, de- 6-letter stxing. veloped by MicroReg, will become There is information on 425 carciavailable to the private sector early.~nogenic compounds, referred to as next year: the National Institute of IRIS, or Integrated Risk Information Science and Technology (NIST) System, a database maintained by will announce its availability. Mi- EPA’s Office of Research and DevelcroReg showed ECLIPS at the Envi- opment. Each chemical in the RoL roExpo in Baltimore in early Octo- contains a code indicating whether ber. The initial licensing agreement or not it is contained in IRIS. Users made ECLIPS and hence RoL avail- interested in a chemical in the RoL ~~
Environ. Sci. Technol., VoI. 27, No. 12. 1993
0013-936W93/0927-2302$04.00/0 @ 1993 American Chemical Society
that is also in IRIS can tap into that rich database. IRIS contains extensive chemical characteristics as well as test results. For example, you might ask how many chemicals on the CERCLA [Superfund) list are also on the IRIS list. There are 922 chemical substances in the CERCLA list, 287 of which are in the IRIS database. The RoL began with the SARA amendments, which were passed in 1986. The concept of a cross-media database was born in the Office of Resource Management soon after the SARA Amendments became
law; it resulted in a prototype system. The system remained dormant for a few years because of other agency priorities and lack of both funds and an organizational home. OPPE picked up the leadership role in the fall of 1991 and assembled a cross-media work group. This group conducted an information need study, designed a system to meet these needs, and found a software project on the market that fulfilled these needs. The package was compared with other EPA-developed information retrieval packages and found to be superior for this partic-
.PA pollutant llsts and number of chemicals included lurnbrot
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-code
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qpPendix C CAA 109
24 6 77
cAA111
89
CAA 112
8
CAA 202(A)
122
CERCLA
m
CWA 304 CWA 307(A) CWA 311 FlFRA
74
83 15 824
NPDWR NSDWR PARA-4C
PRlO POLL RCRA 3 char. RCRA F list RCRA K list RCRA P list
RCRA TC list RCRA U list
Analytes Listed in Appendix C of the Consent Decree National Ambient Air QualityStandards (Clean Air Act) Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources of Pollution National Emission Standards lor Hazardous Air Pollutants Motor Vehicle Emission and Fuel Standards
National Primary Drinking Water Pesticides National Secondarv Drinkina Water Reoulations Pre-TreatmentPoliutants (EPA Mfim 2 Water Regulations and Standards) Prior& Pollutants under CWA Char&edstics of Hazardous Wastes: I nitabillty. Reactivity (Resource Conservation m8 Recovery Hazardous Wastes from NonspecificSources Hazardous Wastes from M f i cSources Acute1 Hazardous Discar;led Commercial Chemical PrJucts Characteristics of Hazardous Waste: Toxicity Characteristics Other Discarded Commercial Chemical Products
TSCA 6(A) 47
TSCA B(A)
Toxic Substances Subject to InformationRules on
1s
i14
TSCA EA CAIR ComprehensiveAssessment Information Rules(CAIR) TSCA 8A PAIR Toxic Substances Control Act (Preliminary
63
TSCA 0C
SARA 302(A) SARA 313 TsCA %A) (2)
Stanton Miller is executive editor of """:T.
Comprehensive Environmental Response. Compensation and Liability Act Hazardous substances Clean Water Act Information and Guidelines Toxic Pollutants Clean Water Act Section 311 hazardous substances Active Ingredients of Registered Pe+$ides (Federal InsBCticide, Fung~deand Rodentlade Act)
Su erfund[Amendmentsand ReauHmrizahon A d ] l i t e priority Contaminant List Extremely Hazardous Substances EPCRA . W o n 313 . List of Toxic . Substances ~.~ Chemicals S u b i d to Signilicant New Use Rules (SNURS) under Toxic Substances Control Act Commercial Chemical Control Rules
SARA 110
ular application. EPA licensed the use of the package from MicroReg, Inc. Initially, the license limited use to EPA employees and contractors doing EPA tasks. EPA has since expanded the scope of the license to include all federal, state, and local governments, as well as quasigovernmental international agencies such as the United Nations Environment Programme. The RoL has been updated five times; EPA intends to update it quarterly. The most recent update was October 1,1993. Four of the five offices within EPA maintain lists of chemical pollutants: the Office of Air and Radiation operates 4; Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, 11; Solid Waste and Emergency Response, 9;and Water, 7.The 22 subsidiary offices of EPA all refer to the Office of Policy and Program Evaluation for chemical information. The number of compounds on each of the 31 lists is shown in Table 1.
~
Production .__.. .
Assessment) Records of Allegations of Siinilicant Adverse Reactions TSCA 8 D Health and Safely Data Reporting Rules TSCA 8 D term. Health and Safelv Data Reoortino Rule Terminations
JOURNAL OF
Physical and Edits;Jean W Gallagher hationnl Imtiruu of Standard7 and Techno@
Published BIMONTHLY by the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Physics, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, JPCRD provides you with compilations and reviews produced under the National Standard Reference Data System of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. JPCRD contains recommended values, uncertainty limits, critical commentary on methods of measurement, and full references to the original papers. Call TollFree 140fL333-9511 odchargeyourordn' Oulridelhe U.S. call (614j 447-3776,
m *'le:
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Environ. Sci. Technol., Voi. 27, NO. 12. 1993 2303
