Chemical Safety Bills Still Need More Work

WASHINGTON (September 18, 2014) – David Goldston, director of Government Affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, made the following statement today concerning recent developments on efforts to update the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA ).  Sens. David Vitter (R-LA) and Tom Udall (D-NM) and, separately, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) have been working on draft proposals to update the law, which is almost uniformly viewed to have failed at protecting the public from dangerous chemicals.

“The draft developed by Senators Vitter and Udall is a significant improvement over the bill that was originally introduced, but still has fatal flaws.  For example, it would still allow EPA unilaterally, sweepingly, and with little analysis, to exempt large numbers of chemicals from both federal and state regulation. That would not protect public health. 

“Senator Boxer’s draft includes thoughtful approaches to addressing many of the remaining issues and the progress so far shows that a compromise ought to be reachable.

“We look forward to continuing to work with all interested parties to develop a final measure that would improve current law and truly protect the public from dangerous chemicals.  The discussions ought to continue.”