The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) has acquired ChemAlliance, an online compliance assistance centre formerly funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and designed to improve regulatory compliance of the chemical manufacturing industry.
The formal transition of ChemAlliance from EPA to SOCMA took place on May 7, 2009 in San Francisco at the National Environmental Partnership Summit.
The popularity of ChemAlliance.org has surged since its inception in 1996 as part of former vice president Al Gore’s “Reinventing Government” initiative. Today the website consistently has over 10,000 visits per month. Recently, however, federal funding for ChemAlliance and other similar centers under EPA has been eliminated.
Through this acquisition, SOCMA has obtained the naming rights and full ownership of ChemAlliance. EPA will continue to serve in a technical advisory role with Battelle, which has managed the site since 1996. SOCMA is currently rebuilding the center and enhancing it from its current form.
Bill Allmond, vice president of Government Relations and ChemStewards at SOCMA, said: “SOCMA is privileged to enable the continued offering of this valued compliance resource to our members and our industry. Regulatory mandates are at an all-time high, and so are the challenges companies face to keep up with them. The addition of ChemAlliance to the type of services SOCMA provides, together with our ChemStewards program, further demonstrates our strong commitment to improved industry performance.
“We commend EPA for its commitment to providing ChemAlliance for over a decade. SOCMA will build upon EPA’s workmanship and expand its focus beyond environmental compliance and include health and safety as well as chemical security. First and foremost, we will provide the type of assistance that the industry desires with the goal of improving regulatory compliance.”
Official announcement is to be made in mid-summer 2009, when the new center is formally launched.