Support Grows For Chemical Law Reform

Abstract

Thousands of commercial chemicals used in everyday items from baby carriers to cleaning products have never undergone federal scrutiny for safety. This is because they were on the market prior to enactment of the 37-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The fact that TSCA—the federal law that regulates commercial chemicals—in practice gives the Environmental Protection Agency little recourse against chemicals already on the market has led to an erosion in public confidence in the chemical industry’s products. But attempts to reform the law, many of which have happened over the past six years, have stalled in Congress. This spring has brought a bill with hope for change—and support from industry, environmental activists, and both political parties. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), a liberal, joined forces with conservative Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), the ranking minority member of the Environment & Public Works Committee, to introduce legislation ( S. 1009) to modernize ...