This bill would create a "6PPD Task Force" through an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences. The Task Force must be set up within 60 days of the law and would be co-chaired by designees of the Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Its duties include improving data and information sharing about the tire chemical 6PPD and its breakdown product 6PPD-Q; identifying and recommending federal funding opportunities to study effects and develop safer alternatives; recommending ways to speed testing and adoption of safer alternatives; sharing best practices for mitigation such as street sweeping and stormwater treatment; and studying other exposure pathways, such as reused tires in artificial turf, playgrounds, underwater tire piles, and artificial reefs. The Task Force membership would include federal agency designees, Tribal representatives from the U.S. West Coast, private sector representatives (including tire and tire-additive industries), an environmental representative, state health or environment experts, and a university researcher. The Task Force must meet at least three times per year, be exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and deliver an initial report 180 days after the law and annual reports thereafter with findings and a list of stakeholders consulted.
If the bill becomes law, it would coordinate federal, Tribal, state, academic, and private-sector work on the chemical 6PPD and its breakdown product 6PPD-Q. The Task Force would make research information, mitigation techniques, and funding opportunities available in an online repository for Tribes, state transportation agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, local governments, tire makers, chemical suppliers, universities, and the public. People and communities near waterways, researchers, manufacturers, and Tribal governments are the most directly named audiences for the Task Force's work.
No publicly available information.
The bill states that 6PPD is widely used in tires for safety and durability but can transform into 6PPD-Q in the environment, which the bill says is acutely toxic to coho salmon. Supporters in the bill text argue private-sector efforts exist to develop alternatives, and that finding alternatives has implications for national security, supply chains, environmental protection, and human health. The Task Force is presented as a way to speed research, testing, funding, and adoption of safer alternatives while maintaining tire performance and passenger safety.
No publicly available information.