Proposed Bipartisan Legislation Would Protect Against Harmful Chemicals

Posted: 06/05/2013  browse the blog archive

U.S. Senators David Bitter (R-La) and the late Frank R. Lautenberg* (D-NJ) last month proposed new legislation that, if enacted, would modernize the 1976 Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA).  The proposed Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013 would ensure that all chemicals registered in the United States and all newly created chemicals are screened for safety to the environment and the public health, while also maintaining the conditions that foster financial growth, innovation, and job creation for chemical manufacturers. 

Under current law, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can call for safety testing only after evidence surfaces to demonstrate that a chemical may be dangerous. As a result, the EPA has only been able to require testing for roughly 200 of the more than 84,000 chemicals currently registered in the United States, and has only been able to ban five dangerous substances since the TSCA was first enacted in 1976.

In contrast, the Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013 would:

  • Require Safety Evaluations for All Chemicals: All chemicals currently available in the U.S. market must be evaluated for safety and labeled as either a "high" or "low" priority chemical based on the potential risk to human health and the environment. For high priority chemicals, EPA must conduct further safety evaluations.
  • Protect Public Health from Unsafe Chemicals: If a chemical is found to be unsafe, the EPA has the necessary authority to take action. This can range from labeling requirements to the full phase-out or ban of a chemical.
  • Screen New Chemicals for Safety: New chemicals entering the market must be screened for safety and the EPA has the authority to prohibit unsafe chemicals from entering the market.
  • Secure Necessary Health and Safety Information: The legislation allows the EPA to secure necessary health and safety information from chemical manufacturers, while directing the EPA to rely first on existing information to avoid duplicative testing.
  • Promote Innovation and Safer Chemistry: This legislation provides clear paths to getting new chemicals on the market and protects trade secrets and intellectual property from disclosure.
  • Protect Children and Pregnant Women: The legislation requires the EPA to evaluate the risks posed to particularly vulnerable populations, such as children and pregnant women, when evaluating the safety of a chemical.
  • Give States and Municipalities a Say: States and local governments will have the opportunity to provide input on prioritization, safety assessment, and the safety determination processes, requiring timely response from the EPA, and the bill establishes a waiver process to allow state regulations or laws to remain in effect when circumstances warrant it.

*Sadly, Sen. Lautenberg passed away on Monday, June 3, 2013, at the age of 89 after an esteemed 30-year political career committed to the nation’s health and safety, from raising the legal drinking age to 21 to winning a smoking ban on almost all domestic airline flights.  Sen. Lautenberg blamed his own father’s death on bad air in the silk mills of New Jersey and later cited this as motivating his interest in labor rights and environmental safety.  The Chemical Safety Improvement Act 2013 may well become part of that legacy.

The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings. The Chanler Group has represented citizen enforcers of Proposition 65 for more than twenty years.