Responsible Care® Toolkit

ACC Encouraged by Release of Administration’s Principles for Chemicals Management Reform

At a speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, CA, on September 29th the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced the Administration’s principles for modernization of the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). The American Chemistry Council’s President and CEO, Cal Dooley, states “We welcome the Administration’s leadership and its recognition of the critical need to modernize our nation’s 30 year old federal chemical safety law. We must harness the advances in science and technology over the past three decades to develop a comprehensive law that puts the safety of the American consumer first, while promoting the innovation that will lead to the development of essential new chemical products and new high-paying American jobs.

Without a comprehensive approach, the American people will be left with minor adjustments to the current federal regime, and a patchwork of state and federal laws that will not enable a robust chemical management system that can become the gold standard for the world.”

“The American Chemistry Council looks forward to working with the Administration, Congress, environmental and animal rights organizations, labor and others with a stake in this issue, to advance reforms that will promote public confidence in the safety of our products. We are encouraged by what appears to be a high level of alignment between our industry’s and the Administration’s principles for TSCA reform. While there is much work to be done to translate these initiatives into effective regulation, we look forward to working with EPA, and other stakeholders in this process, and will be thoroughly reviewing their principles to identify common ground as well as areas that we believe need further discussion.”

The American Chemistry Council in August issued its 10 Principles for Effective Chemicals Management. Highlights include:

For more information, visit the ACC Newsroom.
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CHEMTREC®—ACC’s Emergency Response Program

CHEMTREC® was established in 1971 by the chemical industry as a public service for emergency responders to obtain information and assistance for emergency incidents involving chemicals and hazardous materials. While the original intent remains a key mission of CHEMTREC today, the scope of services and the audiences served have changed dramatically over the past several decades.

Today CHEMTREC is the most widely recognized emergency response information resource in the world. On any day, we handle an average of 125 incidents involving hazardous materials. What CHEMTREC does is viewed as a critical product stewardship component of Responsible Care; if a chemical product is released into the environment, involved in a fire, or if there is direct personnel exposure; CHEMTREC will bring all of its resources to bear to assist in mitigating the incident. Included among those resources are:

Most importantly, CHEMTREC provides these services as a free public service to anyone needing assistance during a hazardous materials emergency.

In addition to its public service function, CHEMTREC also provides a number of services to ACC members and other companies involved in hazardous materials transportation. The most well known of the for-fee services is the authorization to use CHEMTREC’s number on shipping documents to meet the U.S hazmat regulation requiring an emergency number. Currently, about 20,000 companies are registered with CHEMTREC for the service.

In recent years, CHEMTREC has expanded its services globally. As a result, CHEMTREC assumed a leadership role in international emergency response. CHEMTREC has encouraged capacity building in lesser developed countries through venues such as Responsible Care, the Chemicals Dialogue and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum . In 2006, CHEMTREC hosted the first international Emergency Response Summit and has encouraged and participated in similar forums in other regions of the world. Most recently, CHEMTREC led an effort that resulted in a formal mutual assistance agreement between CHEMTREC and emergency centers in Chile, Argentina, and Columbia; CHEMTREC has also entered into a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Transportation to work jointly to enhance hazardous materials safety on a global basis. CHEMTREC also has formal mutual assistance agreements with organizations such as the Swedish Rescue Service Agency, the US Department of Defense, and the US Army Chemical, Biological and Defense Command—the latter leading to CHEMTREC providing direct assistance to U.S. armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As the scope of CHEMTREC’s services—and the audiences served—continues to change and expand, especially on a global scale, CHMTREC will continue to strengthen its mission to become the most effective emergency communication service in the world. For more information, contact Customer Service at (800) 262-8200 or visit our website, www.chemtrec.com.

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Welcome New Responsible Care Member Coordinator

We would like to welcome Janice Pinson, Responsible Care Coordinator for Searles Valley Minerals, to the Responsible Care® Program. Welcome!

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Welcome New Responsible Care Partners

The ACC Executive Committee approved two new partners on September 23, 2009. The two companies and their respective sponsors are: CBSL Transportation Services, Inc.—sponsored by ACC members Chevron Phillips Chemical and FMC; and Coal City Cob/DFW Tank Cleaning sponsored by RCMS certified partner A&R Distribution and ACC member Ashland. Please join in welcoming these two companies to our partnership program roster.

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Welcome New Responsible Care Partner Coordinators

New partner company Responsible Care coordinators assigned during the past month include: Brandy McMullen/Trinity Transport; Tim Tittelbach/CBSL Transportation Services; and Randy Wasson/Coal City Cob/DFW Tank Cleaning. Welcome!!
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2010 Responsible Care Conference & Expo—Save the Date!

The 2010 Responsible Care Conference and Expo will be held on May 2 – 5, 2010, at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, Miami, Florida. More information on the 2010 Responsible Care Conference and Expo will be forth coming.

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October Monthly Member Coordinator Call

The monthly Member Responsible Care Coordinator Call was held on Friday, October 16th at 10:00 a.m. EDT.

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October Monthly Partner Coordinator Call

The monthly partner coordinators’ call will be held on Thursday, October 22nd at 10:00 a.m. EDT. If you have any questions or other items you would like to have addressed in this call—please contact Dave Gleason.

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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC) Free Webinar—October 15, 2009

EPA’s RCC hosted a free and informative webinar on responsible chemical management in schools on October 15, 2009. When it comes to our students’ health, our children deserve the best protection possible. Elementary and secondary schools have many important safety issues to deal with. The webinar covered the Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign RCC Web Academy—Chemicals in Schools: Real Problems, Real Solutions. School, community, and industry experts have all grappled with school chemical management issues, and they shared thier experience with valuable lessons learned and stories to share.

EPA’s expert panelist speakers were Patricia Johnson—Science Department Chair at Grandview High School, Grandview, Mo, Tita LaGrimas—Executive Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Pollution Control Industries (PCI), a Tradabe Company, East Chicago, IN and Roarke Holzschuh—State On-Scene Coordinator, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Jefferson City, MO. In addition to expertise in their respective fields, each panelist brought fresh perspectives on chemical management in K-12 schools to the table.

Each of the panelists recently participated in the White House “United We Serve” summer service initiative. EPA recognized the panelists for their efforts to implement sustainable long-term responsible chemical management and to inventory and safely dispose for over 500 pounds of outdated, unknown and unneeded chemicals in Grandview, MO. These experiences were discussed during the webinar.

To learn more, please visit: EPA's website.
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2009 EPA School Chemical Cleanout Campaign (SC3) Recognition Ceremony—October 22, 2009

EPA will host an event on October 22, 2009, at 10:00 AM that will recognize organizations from across the country that have taken steps to promote responsible chemical management in K-12 schools. The event will be held at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) East Building, 1201 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington D.C. 20004.

EPA will recognize businesses, state governments, Tribes, and universities that have demonstrated noteworthy results in protecting children and school staff by meeting one or more of the School Chemical Cleanout Campaign (SC3) program goals. A representative from the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care Program will be in attendance. For more information please contact Cynthia Merse.

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Monthly RCMS/RC14001 Monthly Implementation Focus Call: Next Call Set for Thursday, November 5 at 11:00 a.m. EDT

Our monthly implementation focus calls continue to be extremely popular – averaging well over 60 participants through each of the first 8 calls. Highlights from the past two calls are as noted below.

Our September call focused on the following items as imbedded in the certification: root cause analysis methodologies, community recovery needs as part of emergency response planning; plus suggestions for how to make selection of ASP (Audit Service Provider), and also how to complete auditor orientation prior to formal certification audit.

In October, we were able to review ACC member recent experiences regarding auditor interpretation/clarification of the new (2008) technical specifications—which are required to be used in all certification audits being done this year and next. In addition, auditor requests to participate/observe in EHS&S on-site meeting and to interview on-site contractors were discussed.

Plan to join the next call and share your experiences and/or learn what both ACC member and RC Partner companies are experiencing in their current certification audit efforts. Contact either Dan Roczniak or Dave Gleason for further information at any time.

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Responsible Care Presentation at Partner Schneider Logistics’ Carrier Recognition Event—September 16, 2009

At the request of Partner company Schneider Logistics, Dave Gleason presented a review “How does Responsible Care® incorporate and enable ‘Going Green’ (in the supply chain)”. Schneider’s event, an annual recognition of carriers in Schneider’s business, was entitled “ECOnomics: Going green in an ever changing economy”. Approximately 225 persons attended this event—including many potential new partners as well as several current LTL sector motor carrier partners. Other presenters included economist Noel Perry; EPA SmartWay™ Group Manager Cheryl Bynum; and University of Houston Professor Michael Economides. This event enabled a clear view of how our partnership program activities, metrics, and cooperative efforts with ACC members fits within today’s sensitivity to cost and to the environmental impact of supply chain operations. If you would like further information regarding this presentation, please contact Dave Gleason .
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New Proposed Partner Sector Product Stewardship Metrics Reviewed with ACC Members’ Product Stewardship Committee

A key activity incorporated in the refresh/update of partner sector metrics in 2009 is enhancement of the product stewardship related metrics for each sector. With the strong focus on product safety and potential reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in the USA this year, having our chemical industry supply chain partners coordinating their product stewardship efforts more closely with those of the ACC members is an important activity. During the ACC Product Stewardship Committee meeting September 23, an in-depth review of the product stewardship related aspects of the RCMS technical specification (as they are interpreted by RC partners) was presented. Following this, proposed metrics modifications defining product stewardship related activities and performance by partner companies were reviewed and discussed with all committee members to insure their understanding of this effort. A similar review will be held for the Partner Steering Group members by Product Stewardship Committee chairperson Susan Eastridge of ACC member Solvay before year end in an effort to insure alignment across the full supply chain.

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Partnership Reminder: Are You Interested in Participating in a Member-Partner Sector Specific Work Group?

We have had a Bulk Truck Sector Work Group functioning for the past two years. This group consists of six bulk motor carrier partners and six ACC member companies—and focuses on issues and operating areas of mutual concern where action can be taken to improve overall EHS performance and efficiency. Similarly, Cindy Emmons, RC Coordinator for partner Saia, Inc. has initiated efforts to form a sector-specific work group to focus on issues identified within the LTL motor carrier sector. Once a core group of interested partners from this sector is identified and a list of actionable areas of interest created—we will be seeking member company representatives to join the group and jointly address the identified issues. If you are interested in becoming a participant in this effort, please contact either Cindy Emmons or Dave Gleason at your earliest convenience.
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