TSCA Reform 2015: A Tale of Two Bills

On March 10, 2015, Senators Tom Udall (D-NM), David Vitter (R-LA), and a coalition of 15 additional democratic and republican Senators, introduced the “Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act” (S. 697), a bipartisan bill to reform the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq.).  On March 12th, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced the “Alan Reinstein and Trevor Schaefer Toxic Chemical Protection Act” (S. ___) , legislation that also is intended to address TSCA reform.  The bills, which build on earlier legislation introduced in several past Sessions of Congress, are different in several key areas:

• Proposed Safety Standard;
• Safety Determination Schedule;
• Minimum Number of Existing Substances to be Reviewed;
• Preemption; and
• User Fees.

The complete bills are available on the TSCA Reform Center site here for review.