National Press Release

DENVER, June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, representatives of The Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) from General Motors and Lear Corporation, urged members of the CEC Council, that includes the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Administrator, Lisa Jackson; the Minister of the Environment for Canada, Jim Prentice; and the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico, Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada to support the implementation of the SciVera Lens(TM) process for assessing and managing chemicals used by the North American Auto Industry.

"For two years, leading companies in the auto manufacturing and supply chain have been working together to enable innovation in automotive products through a common chemical assessment and management strategy in North America," said Dr. Patricia Beattie, Director, Chemical Risk Mgmt. Environmental Services, General Motors Corporation; and Chair of the Chemical Issues Workgroup within SP. Beattie, who made a presentation to the CEC Council today, continued, "we have now created a Materials Assessment Strategy (M-A-S) process in a paper version that can be utilized by our members, but the North American auto industry and their suppliers need a web-based, automated chemical assessment solution that all automotive manufacturers and their suppliers in North America can easily access and utilize."

Also speaking during the Council session today, Ms. Barbara Boroughf, Vice President Global Environmental, Health and Safety, Lear Corporation, stated, "The work group that created the Material Assessment Strategy included General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Johnson Controls Inc., Chemico Mays, Quaker Chemical, and our company Lear Corporation, from the Suppliers Partnership for the Environment and Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Subaru from the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, Inc." Boroughf continued, "Collectively, we have recognized that companies in the auto sector have a growing need to make more proactive decisions about the materials in our products. These decisions, when implemented reliably and cost-effectively via the M-A-S and SciVera Lens, will go beyond basic compliance issues we already address every day and will make us more competitive and better stewards of the environment."

"Currently available automated chemical compliance solutions are either focused on basic compliance with existing regulatory lists or are far too complex for use as a management tool by non-experts," added Beattie. "That is why we have taken the paper process and worked with Science Strategies, LLC to help develop the SciVera Lens(TM) system that can enable the secure and reliable processing of chemical assessments on a large scale in the auto industry," Beattie said.

"Today, we recommended that the CEC coordinate with The Suppliers Partnership for the Environment to support a web-based, automated chemical assessment solution to all automotive original equipment manufacturers and their suppliers in North America for two years," concluded Beattie.

The Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) is an innovative collaboration between automobile manufacturers, their suppliers, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The members of the SP established the Chemical Issues Work Group to provide a forum for discussing and addressing emerging chemical issues within the automotive supply chain, to share best practices and to develop a collaborative approach to chemical material assessment for automotive products. More information about SP can be found at www.supplierspartnership.org.

    For More Information Contact:
    Steve Hellem: (202) 530-0096 Ext 201

SOURCE Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP)