The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program provides health effects information on chemicals to which the public may be exposed, providing a critical part of the scientific foundation for EPA's decisions to protect public health. EPA has made several changes to this important Program over the past few years, streamlining the assessment development process, improving transparency, and creating efficiencies within the Program. In April 2011, the National Research Council (NRC) made several recommendations to EPA for improving the development of IRIS assessments. The NRC's recommendations were focused on the development of draft assessments, and the NRC was clear that their intent was not to delay assessments.