The US Senate is poised to approve Donald Trump’s nomination of an industry lobbyist to lead the US Environmental Protection Agency’s chemical safety office.
If the nominee, Douglas Troutman, is confirmed, the top four toxics office positions at the EPA will be held by former chemical industry lobbyists, raising new fears about the health and safety of the American public, consumers and workers, campaigners say.
“The lunatics are running the asylum, and industry is firmly in charge of chemical safety,” said Scott Faber, vice-president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group non-profit, which lobbies on chemical safety issues. “They will stop at nothing to reverse the progress that we’ve made in recent years on toxic chemicals.”
Troutman is currently the chief lobbyist for the American Cleaning Institute, a trade group representing cleaning product manufacturers including BASF, Dow and Procter & Gamble. If approved, he would oversee the EPA’s office of chemical safety and pollution prevention.
Among other responsibilities, the office evaluates the safety of new chemicals that industry wants to send to the market, re-evaluates the safety of previously approved chemicals and oversees the pesticides program.
In a statement made before the Senate committee on environment and public works, Troutman used language that suggested he would probably follow the administration’s lead on deregulation.
“I hope to bring a reasoned approach to engaging chemical management matters and issues under the belief that economic prosperity and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive,” Troutman said.
He was among lobbyists for industry on the 2016 rewrite of Toxic Substances and Control Act, which was aimed at strengthening protections against toxic chemicals. However, industry successfully worked in loopholes that chemical makers and other producers have since exploited.
Faber, who has lobbied opposite Troutman on bills, offered an anecdote that he said “encapsulates who Doug is”.
In 2017, public health advocates, industry and California lawmakers worked together to develop and pass legislation called the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act, which required industry to disclose chemicals that were used in their cleaning products.
Before its passage, the contents were shielded behind confidential business information laws. EWG research has found common cleaning products may contain any of hundreds of volatile organic compounds linked to cancer and other health issues. Another study found frequent use of cleaning products increased the risk of childhood asthma.
The California act is among the nation’s most important chemical transparency laws in terms of protecting consumers, Faber said.
“This is a huge deal because we cannot properly protect consumers from harm unless we know what’s in the products,” Faber said.
But in 2023, public health advocates and many in industry were caught off guard when Larry Bucshon, then a member of Congress, unexpectedly introduced a piece of legislation that would pre-empt state laws and repeal the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act, Faber said.
Public health groups and many industry players initially did not know who was behind the attempted repeal, called the Cleaning Product Communication Act, Faber said. But he added that they soon learned who they say was seemingly its source – Troutman.
In a press release at the time, Troutman called the legislation “a pro-consumer proposal that provides clarity on how cleaning product manufacturers inform consumers about the ingredients in their products on-package, online or in-app”.
Even major cleaning companies like Clorox and Henkel came out against the bill, and it died without moving, Faber said, but he added that it offers insight into how Troutman may run the chemical safety office.
“The California law was a really historic breakthrough that united NGOs and industry leaders, and Doug Troutman sought to repeal it,” Faber said.
Others at the top positions in the chemical safety office include Nancy Beck and Lynn Ann Dekleva. Beck, a deputy administrator in the office, has helped lead industry’s charge against new drinking water limits for PFAS, or “forever chemicals”, that are considered among the most toxic human-made substances, and which are estimated to be contaminating drinking water for at least 143 million people.
While at the previous Trump EPA and as an American Chemistry Council lobbyist after that, Beck helped weaken rules around asbestos, methylene chloride, lead and PCBs.
Dekleva, a deputy assistant administrator in the chemical safety office, is a former Trump EPA official and DuPont executive, who, along with Beck, was accused of helping lead a broader effort in the chemical division to interfere in agency science, including altering reports for political reasons.
“They have long track records at the agency and we don’t have to guess – we know what they’ve done and what they’re going to do,” said Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, which lobbies on toxic chemical issues.
Meanwhile, Kyle Kunkler, the new deputy assistant administrator who will oversee the pesticides program, is a former pesticide industry lobbyist. He was given the “rising star” award in 2020 by CropLife, a big ag trade group.
Faber said there was little that can be done to stop the new chemical safety office leadership from shredding regulations, but added: “We need state powers more than ever.” Hundreds of state laws passed in recent years have banned or put in place restrictions on toxic chemicals, and that has forced industry to move away from using them. The Trump EPA, however, has proposed a new rule aimed at invalidating most recent state regulations around toxic chemicals.
“Our only hope now is preserving state laws,” Faber said.
