[co-author: Stephanie Kozol]*

On June 27, Illinois AG Kwame Raoul led a coalition of 13 Democratic attorneys general nationwide in submitting a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), supporting more stringent regulation of ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions. In their letter, the coalition urged the EPA to adopt proposed amendments to EtO standards under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants program (NESHPA), and also offered several recommendations for more regulatory requirements “based on several states’ experiences regulating commercial sterilizers.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) categorizes EtO as a human carcinogen. A colorless gas used to sterilize medical equipment and plastics unable to be autoclaved for sterilization, EtO is also used in antifreeze, in the production of polyester and plastic bottles, and in solvents. Currently, many commercial sterilization facilities (and other facilities that use EtO) primarily reside in low-income communities and communities of color and expose this population to disproportional health risks, including cancers like non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a great concern to AGs. Despite existing regulations, these facilities typically fall outside the regulatory framework of the NESHPA.

The letter suggested that in the absence of federal regulation, the states filled regulatory gaps to “rein in EtO emissions from commercial sterilization facilities.” The letter included two specific examples of the AGs plugging the federal regulatory gap in both Illinois and Michigan where the release of EtO into the community allegedly exponentially increased the risk of cancer for local citizens. As such, the AGs encouraged the federal government to fill that gap, and even strengthen the proposed regulations based on the AGs’ experiences.

Why It Matters

The AGs’ letter to the EPA denotes a good example of the growing influence of state AGs in federal regulatory matters based upon their first-responder status — a trend occurring across industries and disciplines. As AGs take a more prominent role in shaping the national regulatory framework in an exceedingly complex economic and regulatory environment, multijurisdictional companies must pay attention to local regulatory developments and trends to anticipate future state and federal enforcement obligations and be prepared to meet them.

*Senior Government Relations Manager