This summer, during one of the least productive sessions in recent history, a rare bipartisan achievement slipped through Congress under the political radar. Democrats and Republicans came together with environmentalists and chemical manufacturers to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
So, what was the secret to TSCA’s success? All of these groups were unified behind a common regulatory vision: chemical regulation must be based on scientific risk alone. TSCA requires EPA to integrate scientific determinations of a chemical’s hazard, use and exposure potential so that facts, not political or fear-based agendas, are the driving force behind chemical regulations.
To be sure, TSCA is a compromise. No one thinks it is perfect. EPA gained authority over chemical regulations, and industry got a streamlined regulatory process. The Environmental Defense Fund called TSCA “a major improvement.” The Society of the Plastics Industry said consumers can have “confidence in the products they depend upon each day, while giving companies a more predictable regulatory system that is based on science rather than rhetoric.”
Read more at The Hill…
