BNA Daily Environment Report Includes Comments from Lynn L. Bergeson Regarding TSCA Modernization Act

The June 24, 2015 Bloomberg BNA Daily Environment Report included quotes from Lynn L. Bergeson in the article “Bill to Update Toxic Substances Control Act Sails Through House by 398-1 Vote.”

Lynn Bergeson, managing partner of Bergeson & Campbell P.C., told Bloomberg BNA in a June 23 e-mail that the changes in the bill prior to the House vote seemed to reflect the need for consensus more than anything.

‘‘EPA will be challenged to complete risk evaluations in two years. Complex chemicals with multiple uses will be exceedingly hard to complete in 24 months and EPA will be in a state of chronic overdrive to meet this metric,’’ Bergeson said.

Another section of H.R. 2576 that was revised prior to the House vote addressed money the EPA would collect from chemical manufacturers through fees the bill would authorize, Bergeson said.

Under the revised text, Congress would have to approve in advance through its appropriation bills the amount of revenue that the EPA could collect through fees, she said.

The effect of this provision would be to impose a fiscal limitation on the agency, Bergeson said. ‘‘Prior versions of the bill might have allowed EPA to use the fee amounts without any consideration of whether Congress had actually appropriated such usage of fees,’’ she said.