Critics from all sides have been queuing up for years to kick the US’s legislation for regulating toxic chemicals, the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Now Lisa Jackson, administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has outlined how the Obama administration would put the poor old TSCA out of its misery.
In a 29 September presentation, Jackson outlined principles for much-needed reform of the act, which, she said, had “proven an inadequate tool for providing the protection against chemical risks that the public rightfully expects.” Congress will take up these ideas in legislation expected in coming months – probably introduced by Sen Frank Lautenberg (Democrat, New Jersey).
One of the main changes will be that chemical manufacturers must provide EPA with toxicity data on chemicals so that the agency can evaluate risks. At the moment EPA can only begin asking manufacturers for toxicity data after it has already got evidence that a chemical poses a risk. That may seem astonishing to Europeans, whose chemical manufacturers are gearing up to provide bundles of toxicity data under the new sweeping chemicals legislation REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals).
Jackson also wants to strengthen the EPA’s authority to clamp down on chemicals it judges dangerous. The agency has only taken action against five chemicals to date, and in one of those cases, asbestos, a federal appeals court struck down the ban. (AP) Jackson added that the EPA would immediately launch a review of six ‘priority’ chemicals that have raised concerns, including bisphenol A and perfluorinated chemicals.
Most chemical manufacturers agree the law needs to be modernized. But as Chemical and Engineering News notes, they are worried about a new concept floated by Jackson – that manufacturers help ‘support the costs associated with implementation’ of safety assessments. In Europe, industry’s costs for complying with REACH have been estimated at anything from €1.6 billion to a worst case €9.5 billion.
Image: Lisa Jackson / EPA via wikipedia