Boxer Chemical Safety Bill a “Significant Improvement” Over Current Law
WASHINGTON (March 17, 2015) – Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is holding a press conference today to discuss a bill she has introduced with Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) to reform the nation’s chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. The Boxer-Markey bill is a counter to a bill released earlier by Sens. David Vitter (R-LA) and Tom Udall (D-NM).
Erik Olson, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Health Program, released this statement today in response:
“The Boxer-Markey bill would preserve a meaningful role for states; ensure that EPA takes action against the most dangerous substances, review chemicals at an accelerated pace; follow National Academy of Sciences’ guidance, and remove important rollbacks and loopholes. The Senate needs to take a close look at the differences between the proposed bills. The Boxer-Markey bill would be a significant improvement over current law.”
Last week, NRDC released the following statement about the Vitter-Udall bill from Daniel Rosenberg, senior attorney in the Health Program:
“The nation’s chemical safety law needs to be updated, and the bill has improved notably since the original version introduced two years ago. But the proposal still contains rollbacks and loopholes that make it worse than current law. For example, a lax Environmental Protection Agency could use the bill to give a green light to deregulate hundreds of controversial chemicals with minimal review. The bill also would block state action even when EPA has done nothing to protect the public. The bill’s failings would be easy to remedy, and we continue to work to get this bill to a point where it would be acceptable.”
A video featuring NRDC’s Editorial Content Director Bob Deans on the chemical reform issue is here: https://youtu.be/gvSJJo5l1S8.