BETHESDA, Md.—U.S. industry needs a pragmatic, bipartisan approach to reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Adhesive and Sealant Council told senators on Capitol Hill.
ASC representatives met Jan. 16 with key staffers of Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Kay Hagan, D.-N.C., to discuss TSCA reform. The meetings were part of the effort by American Alliance for Innovation, a broad-based coalition of associations interested in chemicals management policy, to inform legislators of the necessity of rewriting TSCA to reflect scientific and technological advances.
TSCA reform legislation introduced in the last Congress failed to address important issues involving chemical assessments, and in some cases represented a step backward from the existing law, the ASC told the senators.
The old legislation did not contain a preemption provision forbidding states and municipalities from making their own chemical regulations, the ASC said. The bill also had no provision for a prioritization process to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to address the chemicals of greatest concern, the council said.
"Without bipartisan action by Congress, we are likely to end up with a patchwork of requirements for managing chemicals that ultimately will inflict harm on U.S. manufacturing," said Mark Collatz, ASC director of government relations.