New Legislation Would Overhaul TSCA, Require Industry to Prove Safety of Chemicals as a Condition of Market Entry

April 15, 2010

Recently, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced the “Safe Chemicals Act” (S.3209). The legislation would be the first major overhaul of chemical safety laws in the U.S. since the enactment of the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1976 (TSCA).

Significantly, the Safe Chemicals Act would require safety testing of all individual industrial chemicals, and place the burden to on industry to prove that their chemicals are safe to be on the market. Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can only call for safety testing after evidence surfaces demonstrating a chemical is dangerous. Under the new legislation, manufacturers would be required to provide information to the EPA proving that their chemicals are safe prior to entering the market. Additionally, manufactures would be required to provide safety information on all chemicals currently in production.

According to a press release on Senator Lautenberg’s website, the Safe Chemicals Act would:

• Require manufactures to develop and submit a minimum data set for each chemical they produce, while also preventing duplicative or unnecessary testing. EPA would have full authority to request additional information needed to determining the safety of a chemical.
• Call on the EPA to categorize chemicals based on risk, and focus resources on evaluating those most likely to cause harm.
• Place the burden of proof on manufacturers to prove the safety of their chemicals. All uses would have to be identified and determined safe for the chemical to enter the market or continue to be used.
• Require EPA to take fast action to reduce risk from chemicals that have already been proven dangerous. In addition, the EPA Administrator would be given the authorit to act quickly if any chemicals pose an imminent hazard.
• Establish a public data base to catalog the information submitted by manufactures to the EPA and the EPA’s safety determinations.

Please continue to visit www.barnesrichardson.com for updates on this legislation.