Toxic Substances Act overhaul proposed
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., chairman of the Subcommittee on Environmental Health, introduces legislation to overhaul the Toxic Substances Control Act, and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., release a discussion draft of legislation on tightening control of toxic chemicals. The existing law is "riddled with so many loopholes that in more than 30 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has been able to regulate only five of the 83,000 chemicals in use in consumer goods," the Environmental Working Group said in an April 15 release. Lautenberg's Safe Chemicals Act, S. 3209, would require chemical manufacturers to prove products are safe in order to keep them on the market. The legislation also would require EPA to establish an interagency panel to select a priority list of 300 chemicals for regulatory review