Safe Chemicals Act Passes Committee

For the first time in thirty-six years, a Congressional committee voted to update the outdated chemical safety laws. Below is information on the hearing and a summary.

For more details on the Full and Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health joint hearing including majority and minority statements see the following information and links.

"Oversight of EPA Authorities and Actions to Control Exposures to Toxic Chemicals." Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Webcast of the proceeding

This is a major milestone to update a regulation which has not received a major overhaul since its inception. The goal is to "modernize" TSCA to increase the regulation's ability to protect people and the environment.

The Safe Chemicals Act would¹:

• Ensure EPA has information on the health risks of all chemicals.
• Require EPA to prioritize chemicals based on risk.
• Expedite action to reduce risk from chemicals of highest concern.
• Further evaluate chemicals that could pose unacceptable risk.
• Provide broad public, market and worker access to reliable chemical information.
• Promotes innovation, green chemistry, and safer alternatives to chemicals of concern.

While it is possible that the Senate will vote on this bill this year, it is unlikely that the House will discuss this bill in the current year. While the vote in the committee was along party lines (Democrats in favor) it is not expected to be a bipartisan issue.

The complete Safe Chemicals Act can be found HERE.

Print this news story