TSCA Reform Approved by Senate

The US Senate passed legislation to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The move was cheered by industry associations. Observers said bipartisan Senate passage of this bill represents an important step forward in overhauling the federal chemical law, which has not been updated in nearly 40 years. The American Cleaning Institute (ACI), for its part, called the Senate's move a major milestone.


“The Senate’s action represents a major milestone in the multi-year effort to bring U.S. chemical safety laws into the 21st century,” said Ernie Rosenberg, ACI president and CEO. “We believe that this legislation reflects progress in science and technology and advance further innovations. A well designed, updated law can further enable our industry’s ongoing work to develop and innovate more sustainable cleaning products.


According to Rosenberg, ACI and its member companies will continue to work with members of the House and Senate to support a final bill that will move through both chambers and get signed into law by President Barak Obama.


“We thank the leaders who have worked tirelessly on this effort, especially Senators Vitter and Udall. Their persistence, patience and perseverance helped bring about the progress we are seeing today,” Rosenberg concluded.


Even People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals cheered the Senate's move. According to a statement by Jessica Sandler, VP-regulatory testing, for 35 years PETA has worked to help federal agencies understand that poisoning animals doesn’t make people safer or healthier.


“PETA applauds the bipartisan  passage by the Senate of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, which contains important language to reduce and replace the use of animals in painful chemical toxicity tests,” she said in a statement. “By modernizing the way in which chemicals are tested, S. 697 will enable better regulation of dangerous chemicals, thus protecting both people and animals. We look forward to final Congressional passage of the bill with its animal protection language intact, and to its being signed into law by the President.”


In June, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed its own version of bipartisan TSCA reform, called the TSCA Modernization Act (HR 2576). Now that the bill has passed in the Senate, the two chambers will need to conference the bills.


The National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) President Eric R. Byer said a credible federal chemical regulatory program is crucial for the American public and for small businesses, including US chemical distributors, their customers, and the hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect workers they represent. After decades of operating under a poorly written law, the vast majority of industry stakeholders agree: TSCA is not working.


“Given the House's passage of TSCA reform legislation earlier this year, we now urge both the House and Senate to quickly come together on a conference report to reconcile their differences and put a final bill on the President's desk,” he concluded.