Document DG1Xb5e6Oy6bXpvZr9G6NgVLd

JOSEPH E KELLER JEROME 11 HECKMAN CHARLES M.MEEHAN WILLIAM H. BOHOIJESANI, JR ROBERT R.TIKRNAN WAYNE V. BLACK BAY 111 L HILL MARTIN W. BKHCOVICI EDWIN B SPI i:\ack PETER M NE.V OV JOSEPH E HADLEY CAROLE C IIARHIS WILLIAM W PUGII LAW OFFICES Kelleii and Heckman 1130 17TM STREET, N. W. SUITE lUOO WASTTINt I ON, D - C, 20030 May 21, 1974 W. A. K. MAY 2 2 19/4 TE T.ri'HONT eoa oc>- moo A11LK AIHiKESS "KELMAN" TO: All Members of: SPI Food, Drug and Cosmetic Packaging Materials Committee; General 'Polyvinyl Chloride Interest Mailing List; Ad Hoc Liquor Bottle Committee; Plastic Pipe Institute (Executive Board); Plastic Bottle Institute (Voting Representatives); SPI Executive Committee; SPI Public Affairs Committee; VC and PVC Producers Ad Hoc Committee Ladies and Gentlemen: In accordance with our now regular practice, we are reporting again on the current status of federal regulatory activities and related matters affecting the vinyl chloride and polyvinyl chloride problem. As has been true for several weeks now, the major news concerns activity on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSI-IA) front, al though we are also including an update on activities the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Although none of the items we are reporting this week require specific responses by any of you, we are sure you will recognize that matters previously reported upon do carry continuing responsibilities. at Following the publication by OSHA of its Notice of Intent to File an Environmental Impact Statement in connection with its proposed permanent ASI-pr 0002041 May 21, 1974 Page Two standard for occupational exposure to vinyl chloride, which contained an invtiation to provide information, we filed Comments on behalf of SPI on May 16, 1974. These Comment:, were substantially in the form pre viously circulated to you so we are not including additional copies at this time. The major purpose of the Comments was to inform OSHA in a formal manner of the work undertaken by the VC and PVC Producers Committee and present a rough timetable as to when the Committee's reports could be expected. In addition, responsive to the publication of the proposed permanent standard on May 10, we are now drafting a request to extend the time for Comments for an additional 30 days, although we have been informally told by OSHA that it probably will not grant such an extension. In addition, we are preparing Comments on the proposed standard and are drafting a request for a Hearing. In connection with the Hearing which we intend to request, our contacts at OSHA have indicated that it is "mentally scheduling" such a Hearing for "about August 1, 1974." As we understand it, it is OSHA's intent to keep the Hearing very much "on the track" and will keep presentations to very specific issues. It is expected that the Hearing record will be kept open for perhaps as much as 10 days after the Hearing closes. Then, it is OSHA's intent to try to have the permanent standard published in the Federal Register on September 5, 1974 to take effect (as required by statute) on October 5, 1974. The VC and PVC Producers Committee is presently at work gathering information that will be used in preliminary form in the Comments which will be filed before the closing date (presumably June 10, 1974). It is anticipated that the maximum amount of information that can be gathered will be presented by various experts at the Hearing. Among the type of peripheral activities that put pressures on the Agencies and that affect their ASI-PR 0002042 May 21, 1974 Page Three actions is the charge of "withholding significant scientific findings" which appeared in the Washington Post on May 20, 1974. As many of you may recognize, and as the article acknowledges, the same story was originally reported in the May 20 edition of Chemical and Engineering News. We are enclosing copies of the C&EN article and the Washington Post story. The Chairman of the EPA's task force studying various aspects of the vinyl chloride matter, Mr. G.E. Schweitzer, Director of EPA's Office of Toxic Sub stances, reported on EPA's present activities at the' Toxicology Working Group Conference on May 11 at the New York Academy of Sciences. At that time, Mr. Schweitzer announced that EPA was making available for Comment the preliminary analytical methods it is using which were reported to be sensitive to approxi mately 60 parts per billion. Because of the length of the procedures, we are not including them with this letter but those interested can obtain a copy from Dr. R.B. Medz, Chief, Standardization Branch, Q.A. Division (RD-687), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. 20460. EPA has submitted a rather elaborate list of questions that it would like SPI and anyone else in terested to assist in answering. These questions have been turned over to a task group of the VC and PVC Committee. However, we are enclosing a copy of the list for your information. As you know, FDA is working on the problem of an interim Food Additive Regulation applicable to poly vinyl chloride packaging materials. Although it sounds familiar, our latest report as to when the Interim Regulation can be expected is still "in one to two weeks." In response to FDA's request for extraction data and analytical methodology, results have been submitted to us for transmission to FDA by a number of parties and we understand more information is on ASI-PR 0002043 May 21, 1974 Page Four its way. Once again, we urge that those who have such information forv/ard it to the Food and Drug Administration (to either Mr. G. McCowin, Assistant to the Director of Food and Color Additives, or to the Hearing Clerk). In the alternative, those who wish can send the information to us and we will con tinue to forward it for them. With respect to medical uses of PVC, we have received no direct information but we understand information regarding monomer content of medical tubing and sheet material is being gathered and that some may already have been presented to the Food and Drug Administration. In this area, too, interested parties are again urged to submit whatever informa tion they may have. We shall continue to try to keep in as close touch wiO the various aspects of these problems as we can and will continue to report them by means of this weekly letter. Naturally, if any fast-breaking matter should arise, we will notify you sooner; but in any event, we shall certainly be in touch with you next week. Enclosures ASI-PR 0002044