EPA’s Safer Choice survives, diminished

After facing the threat of cancellation, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice program, which supports the use of environmentally friendly and low-toxicity consumer product ingredients, will live on, though with less independence than it had.

Under a new structure at the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, the Safer Choice program will go from being independent to operating as part of the office’s New Chemicals division. The program has a staff of about 10 people who may have their time split between Safer Choice activities and new chemical approvals.

The Project 2025 report, a small-government policy framework published during the most recent election cycle by allies of now-president Donald J. Trump, named Safer Choice as one of many federal programs and services that should be cut. In early May, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced the redeployment of more than 500 EPA scientists away from research and efforts related to climate change and toward new chemical reviews.

The Safer Choice group was part of that reorganization, says Joel Tickner, executive director of Change Chemistry, a nonprofit promoting green chemistry. “Safer Choice was in Project 2025, and the agencies are pretty much following it like a Bible,” he says. “So there was an expectation that in the reorganization, Safer Choice would be eliminated.”

Tickner credits Safer Choice’s reprieve in part to a vigorous campaign this spring by chemical manufacturers, consumer product makers, retailers, and public advocacy groups. “Other than Energy Star, I can't think of another program at EPA that has such broad-ranging support, where you can get BASF and moms against toxics on the same letter,” he says.

Energy Star and WaterSense, related EPA programs promoting energy and water efficiency in consumer appliances, did not survive the changes at the agency. Tickner attributes the difference to Energy Star’s connection to climate change—though the program predates widespread climate concerns and has focused mostly on saving consumers money—and Trump’s long-standing animosity toward low-flow showerheads.

Though Safer Choice was spared, it is not out of danger. Tickner says the new organizational structure makes it easier for EPA leadership to whittle away at the program by shifting staffers from it and toward new chemical approvals, for example. The EPA didn’t respond to a request for comment about the new structure.

Blake Nanney, director of government affairs at the American Cleaning Institute, a cleaning industry organization, says his group is advocating against privatization of Safer Choice or delegation of its duties to US states. Privatization could present a threat to confidential business information such as formulas and suppliers, he says, and a state-level approach would be hard for manufacturers to comply with and consumers to keep track of.

“We are awaiting further details from the administration regarding any next steps for Safer Choice. However, we are communicating directly with EPA at this time and reiterating our members' desire for the program to remain intact,” he says.