The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has its own watchdog, the EPA Office of Inspector General. According to a Jan. 5, 2012 news item on Nanowerk that watchdog has published a report suggesting the EPA should do more to manage nanomaterials risks,

EPA has the statutory authority to regulate nanomaterials but currently lacks the environmental and human health exposure and toxicological data to do so effectively. The Agency proposed a policy under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act [FIFRA] to identify new pesticides being registered with nanoscale materials. After minimal industry participation in a voluntary data collection program, the Agency has proposed mandatory reporting rules for nanomaterials under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, and is also developing proposed rules under the Toxic Substances Control Act [TSCA]. However, even if mandatory reporting rules are approved, the effectiveness of EPA’s management of nanomaterials remains in question for a number of reasons:

• Program offices do not have a formal process to coordinate the dissemination and utilization of the potentially mandated information.
• EPA is not communicating an overall message to external stakeholders regarding policy changes and the risks of nanomaterials.
• EPA proposes to regulate nanomaterials as chemicals and its success in managing nanomaterials will be linked to the existing limitations of those applicable statutes.
• EPA’s management of nanomaterials is limited by lack of risk information and reliance on industry-submitted data.

The full report is titled EPA Needs to Manage Nanomaterial Risks More Effectively, Report No. 12-P-0162.