WASHINGTON—With Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress and the White House, they're now showing interest in revising toxic chemical safety rules that they say are holding back U.S. companies.
But Democrats in Congress, at a Jan. 22 hearing, were more focused on changes in the Toxic Substances Control Act to better limit risks to the public and workers from chemical exposure.
It's not clear yet what TSCA revisions could be coming in Congress, but some saw it as noteworthy that TSCA was the focus of the first hearing in this legislative session in the Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Whatever Congress does, the interpretation of the nation's primary chemicals management law is likely to be increasingly important to the plastics industry.
President Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency is now set to take over TSCA human health reviews of legacy plastics feedstocks, including vinyl chloride and styrene, that were launched in President Joe Biden's administration.
The vinyl industry announced Jan. 8 that it had hired a former EPA official from Trump's first term to lead its response to the TSCA review. That official suggested a Trump EPA would look at TSCA risk evaluations differently than the Biden EPA.
At the Jan. 22 hearing, key lawmakers from both parties said they hoped to take a bipartisan approach to changes, although legislators from the two parties repeatedly offered differing visions for TSCA.