17 Administration

The different administrations that help work to protect the environment and the people to ensure their safety against chemicals ranges broadly. The two agencies that work on controlling exposure and educating the public are the environmental protection agency and the occupational safety and health administration. The EPA helps protect the public against chemicals by regulating them as well as tracking the distribution of these chemicals. The EPA oversights watch on how states are implementing TMDL’s which are total maximum daily limits that are deemed safe for the public to inhale or absorb without serious consequences like cancer. The EPA also oversights many other agencies to ensure everything is running smoothly by requiring toxic substance reports as well as the amount each agency may have gotten.⁹ The occupational safety and health administration enforces requirements to educate employees at work. They require jobs to enforce labels and safety data sheets for exposed employees. They also ensure employees safety by setting permissible exposure limits, like concentrations being inhaled per hour or per year to ensure there is no risk of fatal exposure.⁸ (JS)

The ATSDR also known as The Agency for Toxic substances and Disease Registry works with many agencies to do a plethora of things. It works with the environmental protection agency when collecting data and doing investigations. It also works with public health when updating about recent chemical hazards and exposures, along with educating health care professionals and providing resources. It aims to limit health problems from chemical hazards by responding to health threats throughout superfund sites, communities and other federal agencies.⁷ (JS)

The department of Homeland security and the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency are both used to help security when it comes to chemical hazards. Homeland security aims to establish preparedness when dealing with threats chemically and biologically. They deal with advanced surveillance work on measures to stop threats strategically if something happens that may harm the public.⁶ The cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency also aims to help other places to advance their security if using serious chemicals that could pose a threat on-site. Although the united states chemical safety and hazard investigation board does not help with the security aspect, they investigate chemical incidents and report to the authorities about what happened, and how to deal with it properly as well as establishing a proper way to safely handle certain chemicals. The chemical safety and hazard investigation board was created under the clean air act amendments. (JS)

The American public health association deals with the public, ensuring their safety. In order to do this, they help educate the public about the area that they are in and ensuring that it is safe and bringing hazards to national attention.⁵  (JS)