The House’s Office of the Law Revision Counsel has posted the U.S. Code version of the Toxic Substances Control Act, as revised by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, Public Law No. 114-182. The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) has not yet posted the official version of the public law, but is expected to soon. The GPO version of the public law will be available at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/.
Archives
On July 1, 2016, Inside EPA published "Committee Jurisdiction Issues Blocked Green Chemistry From TSCA Reform," an article discussing the passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) law and the lack of language from previous versions boosting federal support of green chemistry. The majority of the bill was reviewed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but the green chemistry provision would have needed to be reviewed by the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee,...
An Environmental Law Institute Seminar and Webinar, Complimentary for members, $50 for non-members. On June 22, 2016 President Obama signed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, amending the Toxic Substances Control Act for the first time since its passage in 1976. While environmental organizations, public health advocates, the regulated community, and EPA have all supported updating the law since at least 2009, political challenges seemed destined to prevent...
On July 1, 2016, Inside EPA published "Committee Jurisdiction Issues Blocked Green Chemistry From TSCA Reform," an article discussing the passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) law and the lack of language from previous versions boosting federal support of green chemistry. The majority of the bill was reviewed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but the green chemistry provision would have needed to be reviewed by the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee,...
July 1, 2016
EPA Launches Q&A Webpage Regarding Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act
On June 22, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled out its new Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act Frequent Questions webpage. This webpage will be a resource for Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform-related updates and implementation plans. EPA has also posted a summary of key provisions, its six essential principles for reform of chemicals management legislation, the presentation from its informational webinar on June 30,...
On June 30, 2016, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (EDT), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted an informational webinar on the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, Public Law No. 114-182. A link to the presentation is available online. The topics from the webinar included: Major Improvements over Current Law; Specific Requirements for Existing Chemicals; Testing Authority; Confidential Business Information; Source of Funding; and...
June 24, 2016
President Obama Signs Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety For The 21st Century Act Reforming The Tox
On June 22, 2016, President Obama signed H.R. 2576, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg) during a signing ceremony. Lautenberg represents years of negotiation and is a towering achievement to enhance the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) authority to review industrial and consumer chemicals and provide the public with confidence that chemical products do not pose unreasonable risks. Of particular interest to biobased chemical manufacturers...
In a June 22, 2016, blog post on The Hill's Congress Blog, Lynn L. Bergeson laid out four reasons why the American public has reason to celebrate the signing into law of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, “a comprehensive and vastly improved domestic chemical management law”: Reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) strikes the requisite balance between Congressional specificity and Agency discretion. Reformed TSCA addresses the law’s most...
May 27, 2016
TSCA Reform Passes House And Is Expected To Pass Senate Without Sustainable Chemistry Provision
On May 24, 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2576, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the long-awaited Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Reform. Senate approval is expected, with the bill being signed into law soon after. The current, and likely final, version of the bill does not contain the sustainable chemistry provision in Section 27 entitled "Development and Evaluation of Test Methods and Sustainable Chemistry" that was in earlier...
According to an item in the Spring 2016 Regulatory Agenda, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is “developing a final rule related to” its April 6, 2015, proposal to require reporting and recordkeeping requirements under Section 8(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for certain chemical substances when they are manufactured or processed at the nanoscale. EPA proposed to require persons that manufacture, import, or process, or intend to manufacture, import, or process...