Lynn L. Bergeson, “The “Undoing” Season,” American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) Blog, January 29, 2025.

It has been almost nine years since Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) stakeholders celebrated President Obama’s enactment on June 22, 2016, of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg). Because the road to amending TSCA was long (almost a decade), contentious, and complicated, stakeholders were perhaps more relieved that the process was finally over than inclined to focus on the fine print. This article discusses mid-course corrections that are desperately needed in the TSCA New Chemicals Program. Chemical reform is in iterative process, and we have learned a lot since 2016. In this post-Chevron world, legislative definitional clarity is the best way to ensure new chemicals — especially those with improved risk profiles — have a rational, fair, timely, and predictable shot at commercialization.