National, International and Other States PBT Initiatives
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a number of national and international initiatives that focus on PBTs.
National
EPA Waste Minimization Priority Chemicals
Office of Solid Waste and Environmental Repair
(OSWER)
EPA's National Waste Minimization Partnership Program focuses
on reducing or eliminating the generation of hazardous waste
containing any of
30 Waste Minimization Priority Chemicals. These chemicals are
found in hazardous waste and are documented contaminants of air,
land,
water, plants and animals.
EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program
Persistent, Bioaccumulative,
and Toxic (PBT) Chemicals
There are 16 PBT chemicals and 4 PBT chemical compound categories
that are subject to reporting under the EPCRA section 313.
EPA has published two final rules that lowered the TRI reporting
thresholds
for certain persistent bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) chemicals
and added
certain other PBT chemicals to the TRI list of toxic chemicals.
EPA Persistent Bioaccumulative and Toxic (PBT) Chemical Program
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxic Substance
(OPPT)
The EPA is forging a new approach to reduce risks from and
exposures to priority PBT chemicals through increased coordination
among
EPA national and regional programs. This PBT chemicals program
has been
established to overcome the remaining challenges in addressing
priority PBT pollutants. EPA is committing, through this program,
to create
an enduring cross-office system that will address the cross-media
issues associated with priority PBT pollutants.
International
Great Lakes
Binational Toxics Strategy
Great Lakes National Program Office
(GLNPO)
The Strategy provides a framework for actions to reduce or
eliminate persistent toxic substances, especially those
which bioaccumulate,
from the Great Lakes Basin. As part of this strategy the
United States and Canada have identified two sets of Chemical
to
focus on: Class
I Compounds and Class II Compounds.
Persistent Organic Pollutants: A Global Issue, A Global Response
(EPA International)
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was
negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP).
The Convention initially focuses on 12 intentionally and unintentionally
produced chemicals. The Stockholm Convention, is a legally binding
international agreement finalized in 2001. Participating governments
agree to take actions to reduce or eliminate the production, use,
and/or release of certain of these pollutants.
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