House Committee Approves TSCA Overhaul, Bill Heads to House Floor
The House Energy and Commerce Committee overwhelmingly approved the Toxic Substances Control Act of 2015, HR-2576 (here), during a markup on June 3. Lawmakers voted 47 in favor with no opposition votes and one abstention. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., abstained after committee officials pressured her to withdraw an amendment to strengthen the ability to maintain state toxic substances regulations alongside federal law.
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The committee approved one technical amendment to the bill. The full House is expected to consider the legislation during the week of June 22-26, said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in his June schedule. High-ranking committee official John Shimkus, R-Ill., floated a draft of the legislation in April, and Democrats largely rallied behind the new bill (see 1504140018). Democratic opposition to a similar bill last Congress impeded the legislative process for TSCA reform (see 14043003).
The legislation would add a new “risk evaluation” procedure in the chemical review process at the Environmental Protection Agency. The bill also empowers EPA to make final decisions on chemicals that would preempt all state regulations on that specific chemical. Food safety and other consumer groups recently railed against the Senate counterpart to the Shimkus bill, saying the legislation threatens local laws that safeguard consumers (see 1504010035).
There were more than 60,000 chemicals grandfathered in when TSCA was signed into law in 1976, and the vast majority have not been reviewed. On top of that, there have been more than 80,000 chemicals registered with EPA since TSCA enactment, and the Obama administration doesn't know how many of those chemicals remain in circulation, said an EPA administrator last Congress (see 14043003). The TSCA overhaul isn’t likely to make changes to import regulations, industry attorneys have said (see 14040401).
The Eshoo amendment would permit federal preemption over state law only if it is “impossible” for states to comply with both federal TSCA overhaul and state regulations. The measure would have also prevented TSCA overhaul from affecting state laws passed before Aug. 1, 2015 (here). Eshoo said, however, the legislation as a whole is heading in the right direction. “I think that this bill is going to go a way toward improving our broken federal regulation on toxic chemicals,” said Eshoo at the hearing. “My amendment would ensure that California and other states mentioned can continue to enforce their strong state laws unless it’s impossible.”
California has some of the toughest chemical laws nationwide (see 14061729). TSCA supporters may need to ensure lawmakers from California, New York, Massachusetts and other states with strong chemical laws are able to support the Shimkus bill in order for it to pass, said Eshoo. Other committee Democrats encouraged more debate on the issues at play in Eshoo’s amendment, but Republicans said the window is closing to make more changes to the legislation. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee sent its version of the legislation to the Senate floor in late April (see 1504300027). Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said both chambers are likely to send a compromise bill to President Barack Obama that closely resembles the House measure.