Charles M. Auer was formerly the Director of EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics and retired from the Agency in January 2009 after a 32 year career with EPA working on chemical assessment and management issues under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). As the Director of OPPT he was responsible for oversight of TSCA and its efforts to assess and manage new and existing chemicals (including nanoscale materials), chemical testing, and efforts to address national priority chemicals such as PFOS/PFOA, lead, PCBs, mercury, etc. Earlier in his EPA career, he worked as a staff chemist, risk assessor, and risk manager with a particular focus on new chemicals. He was the Chairman of OPPT's Structure Activity Team (SAT) during the early years of the New Chemicals Program. He subsequently moved into management positions, including 10 years as Director of the Chemical Control Division (with responsibility for new and existing chemicals notification/reporting, testing, and risk management) and 6+ years as the Office Director. During his time at EPA, the Office was responsible for numerous regulatory and collaborative efforts such as new chemicals notification and control, §4 testing, the High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge program, amendments to the Inventory Update Rule (IUR), Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge, Design for the Environment (DfE), Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program, Chemical Assessment and Management Program, PFOA 2010/2015 Stewardship Program, and other voluntary and regulatory efforts. OPPT also had a lead role in promoting pollution prevention and green chemistry both within the agency and with external stakeholders. A chemist by training, Mr. Auer has broad experience in assessment and management of new and existing chemicals, genetically engineered microorganisms, and nanoscale materials. Mr. Auer also has broad international experience in working with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Regarding the latter, he was involved in negotiation and implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC), and the Dubai Declaration on the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). He also had extensive bilateral and multilateral interaction with the European Union, Canada, Japan, China, and other major US trading partners. Several recent publications and his written testimony on the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act (H.R. 5820) are available below:
Auer, Charles M., Blake A. Biles, and Larry Culleen, “Fundamental changes could be in store for regulation of commercial chemicals,“ BNA Chemical Regulation Reporter (195 DEN B-1), Oct 12, 2009, 1008-1012. Auer, Charles M., Lynn L. Bergeson, and James V. Aidala, “EPA’s Action Plans signal a new chapter for TSCA while informing the future legislative debate on chemicals,” Env. Law Rev. (40), March 2010, 10243-10247. Auer, Charles M., “Periodic reporting of hazard data, exposure information on existing chemicals,” BNA Chemical Regulation Reporter (70 DEN B-1), April 19, 2010, 384-393. Auer, Charles M., Lynn L. Bergeson, and Lisa R. Burchi, “TSCA Section 5(b)(4) ‘Chemicals of Concern’ list: Questions, issues, concerns,” BNA Daily Environment Report, May 24, 2010, B 1-4. Auer, Charles M., Testimony on H.R. 5820 - The Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010, submitted to Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce, August 3, 2010. Bergeson, Lynn L., and Charles M. Auer, "Nano Disclosures: Too small to matter or too big to ignore?" Nat. Res. & Env. (25(3)), Winter 2011, 26-30. Bergeson, Lynn L., James V. Aidala, and Charles M. Auer, "Principles for regulating nanotech," Law360, June 15, 2011. Bergeson, Lynn L., James V. Aidala, and Charles M. Auer, "The nuances of 'nano' in pesticide products," Law360, July 1, 2011. Charlie can be reached at auer.charlesm@gmail.com or by phone at 301-525-3467.
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