Tom Branna, Editorial Director06.01.16
Who says Congress is broken? After years of bickering, partisanship and inaction in the aisles, the US Senate and the US House of Representatives came together in recent months to hammer out a reform bill of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The final text of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act was approved by the full House and Senate last month; President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law. For years, industry and environmental groups decried TSCA.
Industry maintained that an outdated TSCA not only hindered consumer and environmental protection, but also impeded product innovation. For their part, environmental groups said TSCA failed to deliver the information needed to identify unsafe, as well as safer, chemicals.
Industry associations hailed the measure.
“Today’s final agreement appears to be the breakthrough we’ve been working towards for years,” said Chris Cathcart, CSPA president and CEO. “Modernizing TSCA is critical to increasing consumers’ confidence in the safety of the products they buy. Broad, bipartisan support for the new law will ensure consumers know that regulators will now have the mandate, authority, and resources necessary to bring the US chemical safety system into the 21st Century.”
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) praised the move as well.
“The work of many leaders in the House and Senate has paved the way to bring chemical regulation into the 21st century,” said ACI president and CEO Ernie Rosenberg.
“Getting to this point represents an effort spanning several years, engaging a number of Senators, Representatives, industry and nongovernmental groups who worked diligently and in good faith to develop legislation that is a genuine compromise.”
According to Rosenberg, TSCA reform benefits consumers and manufacturers—and it will support sustainable innovation.
Correction:
Due to an editing error, the flow illustration on p. 46 in Nava Dayan’s Safety Assessment in Skin Care column was incorrect (May 2016). Text was missing from the fourth box in the chart, which should have read: Cornea is exposed to the test compound. The correct version of the illustration can be viewed online on Happi.com
Tom Branna
Editorial Director
tbranna@rodmanmedia.com
Industry maintained that an outdated TSCA not only hindered consumer and environmental protection, but also impeded product innovation. For their part, environmental groups said TSCA failed to deliver the information needed to identify unsafe, as well as safer, chemicals.
Industry associations hailed the measure.
“Today’s final agreement appears to be the breakthrough we’ve been working towards for years,” said Chris Cathcart, CSPA president and CEO. “Modernizing TSCA is critical to increasing consumers’ confidence in the safety of the products they buy. Broad, bipartisan support for the new law will ensure consumers know that regulators will now have the mandate, authority, and resources necessary to bring the US chemical safety system into the 21st Century.”
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) praised the move as well.
“The work of many leaders in the House and Senate has paved the way to bring chemical regulation into the 21st century,” said ACI president and CEO Ernie Rosenberg.
“Getting to this point represents an effort spanning several years, engaging a number of Senators, Representatives, industry and nongovernmental groups who worked diligently and in good faith to develop legislation that is a genuine compromise.”
According to Rosenberg, TSCA reform benefits consumers and manufacturers—and it will support sustainable innovation.
Correction:
Due to an editing error, the flow illustration on p. 46 in Nava Dayan’s Safety Assessment in Skin Care column was incorrect (May 2016). Text was missing from the fourth box in the chart, which should have read: Cornea is exposed to the test compound. The correct version of the illustration can be viewed online on Happi.com
Tom Branna
Editorial Director
tbranna@rodmanmedia.com
