Senate, House TSCA Compromise Bill Expected to be Signed Next Week
A compromise bill to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) should be posted in the House and Senate by May 21, setting up a likely May 24 House vote under expedited procedures, senators said during a May 19 press conference. Bill co-sponsor and Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., said he expects the bill will be signed into law before the Senate leaves town after May 27 for Memorial Day recess. Both the existing Senate and House bills, passed in 2015, include provisions to address concerns that a developing patchwork of state laws is causing difficulties for chemical manufacturers and importers (see 1512180021).
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Among other provisions, the Senate version of the legislation, the “Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act,” requires user fees to be collected and allocated only to “defray” costs associated with TSCA-related actions implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency administrator. “I’m confident, and I’ve been in the weeds every step of the way, that the fee provisions are fair, and they properly reflect companies’ real participation and involvement in a chemical, so I feel very comfortable in…[those] provisions,” said Sen. David Vitter, a proponent of the legislation. “That is not something that’s being talked about anymore, so I’m very comfortable with it.”
The Senate bill would allow states to “act on any chemical” until EPA “takes a series of steps to regulate a specific chemical,” and would grant states the right to freely act on chemicals that the federal government does not regulate within 3.5 years of implementation of the act, said bill co-sponsor and Senate EPW Ranking Member Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., in a statement (here). “Until the last minute, I hope we can make further improvements on this and other areas. I am working with everyone in both sides of the aisle and both houses to do so.”