When the United States House of Representatives passes environmental/chemical safety legislation 403-12, the Environmental Protection Agency supports it, and it receives accolades from groups as diverse as the American Chemistry Council and the Environmental Defense Fund … it’s either a rare aligning of the planets or, perhaps, some truly useful legislation.
Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Amendments
The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act that modernizes the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976 is now waiting (at the time of this writing) signature by President Obama, and at long last, we’ll have an amended and, hopefully, more useful, TSCA.
For the regulated community, the amendment provides more certainty and reduces state-based chemical initiatives. With that said, as pointed out by Barnes and Thornburg, “All state TSCA provisions taken before April 22, 2016, are preserved … as are past and future actions taken under laws in effect on August 31, 2003. This carve out protects California’s Proposition 65 and Massachusetts’ Toxics Reduction Act.” Some of these state initiatives have received harsh criticism as being misleading, burdensome, and unscientific.
For environmental groups, it provides more transparency and, as the Environmental Defense Fund states, “This bill gives no one everything they wanted – neither Republicans nor Democrats swept the table…but…taken together, the final bill is a major improvement over current law.”
So what does this TSCA reform mean, and how has it received such wide support? The American Chemistry Council points that TSCA is strengthened by:
- Subjecting all new and existing chemicals to an EPA safety review
- Requiring the EPA to focus on chemicals that are the highest priorities for full risk-based safety assessments
- Increasing transparency and the quality of science used to make EPA decisions
- Expanding the EPA’s ability to require additional health and safety testing of chemicals
- Allowing industry to request that the EPA conduct a safety assessment on a specific chemical
- Providing the EPA with a full range of options to address the risks of substances, including labeling requirements, use restrictions, phase-outs, or other appropriate actions
- Setting aggressive and attainable timelines for the EPA to complete its work
- Promoting cooperation between state and federal regulators while creating a strong national chemical regulatory system, ensuring interstate commerce is not disadvantaged
- Increasing protection for the most vulnerable, like infants, children, and the elderly
- Protecting Confidential Business Information (CBI)
TSCA Reform Dissenting Opinions
While there is wide-spread support, there is dissent on both sides. For example the Competitive Enterprise Institute said, “The most unfortunate part of the proposed TSCA changes is the potential for real harm. TSCA reform promises to empower the EPA to go after valuable chemicals that have important public health and safety benefits, which could be lost.”
On the other side of the political spectrum, Environmental Working Group stated, “…the law to overhaul the Toxic Substances Control Act falls far short of giving the Environmental Protection Agency the resources and authority to quickly restrict or ban chemicals known to cause cancer.”
Dissenting views aside, TSCA reform is now a reality. Whether it proves to truly be a remarkable piece of legislation that protects human health and the environment, provides greater safety, and protects business interests or it proves to be the worst fears of some will be borne out in the coming months and years.
Chemical Management… Sidebar
While we are talking about TSCA and chemical management, we wanted to mention a similar compliance issue for those of you who may have manufacturing operations in Canada. Environment and Climate Change Canada is also undertaking significant efforts at it relates to Chemical Management. The implementation of the Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) in Canada is in the final step (Phase 3 or CMP3) where they are evaluating more than 23,000 chemicals/substances. The CMP is important as companies consider new products or processes in Canada.
If you have questions about environmental compliance issues, contact Matthew Schroeder, P.E. (mschroeder@dragun.com) or Jeffrey Bolin, CHMM (jbolin@dragun.com).