THE POLLUTION PREVENTION (P2) FRAMEWORK AND THE PBT PROFILER: PREVENTION STARTS AT R & D

EPA's Office of Pollution and Toxics (OPPT) has developed chemical risk screening models to evaluate chemicals submitted as Premanufacture Notices (PMNs) under TSCA. These models have been combined into the P2 Framework as an approach to risk screening that incorporates pollution prevention principles in the design and development of chemicals. OPPT has conducted a very successful outreach effort presenting the P2 Framework models to industry and other stakeholders, with the goal of learning if the P2 Framework models could be transferred to others outside the Agency to help inform their decision-making at the earliest stages of research and development. OPPT has conducted training workshops and formed partnerships with industry to help them explore the use of these models. P2 Partnerships became the basis for Sustainable Futures, which will give regulatory relief in the form of an expedited PMN review to submitters who demonstrate to EPA that they have used screening models on their PMN submission. OPPT has also worked with industry and environmental groups to develop a PBT Profiler that estimates persistence (P), bioaccumulation (B), and toxicity (T) characteristics based on chemical structure.