The GoodBye Chain Group
moleculesOn June 22nd 2016 President Obama signed into law the TSCA reform bill. On June 7th, 2016 the US Congress passed the US TSCA reform bill and previously, on December 18, 2015 Senate passed "The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21stCentury Act", which updates the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act and gives the EPA broader powers regarding studing and regulate harmful chemicals, as well as restricting states’ abilities to create individual rules regarding chemicals.

Last year, the US House of Representatives  approved TSCA reform as the “TSCA Modernization Act of 2015”. In an overwhelming vote of 398-1 on June 23rd, 2015, the House approved this bill that will amend the Toxics Substances Control Act that has been in place since 1976 and include substantial changes.

The house bill, HR 2576, gives the EPA more power regarding regulatory action on chemicals, mandates a minimum number of risk evaluations per year, requires a list of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals within nine months of the bill’s enactment, and after two years, identify chemicals of concern. The bill also allows for confidential business information (CBI) sharing and expiration of CBI claims.

Stay tuned as TSCA develops further.

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