In late July 2010, the U.S. House Committee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection held its first hearing on reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). During the hearings, members of Congress presented the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010.
In his presentation, Bobby L. Rush stated that the proposed TSCA reforms do not expect to satisfy everyone, but one thing is very clear: the American public wants, needs, and demands more than ever to know about the chemicals in the products they consume, their food and water, their housing, and their surrounding environment. Furthermore, they demand to know the associated uses, hazards, and exposure risks.
Industry representatives attending the hearing expressed concern about TSCA's reforms, while NGOs expressed their approval.
It is understood that the current U.S. law controlling hazardous substances is the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which came into effect in 1976. However, due to its age, the U.S. government and the public believe that the TSCA is no longer fulfilling its purpose. Since 2009, the U.S. government has intended to reform the TSCA. On July 22, 2010, Representatives Rush and Waxman, among others, introduced the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010, revising the TSCA.
The main content of the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010 is to establish a risk-based framework to ensure that all chemicals posing a risk of public exposure are safe and strictly regulated. Industry is required to provide information to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010 may authorize the EPA to exempt certain known safe chemicals from some of the Act's requirements, and may also assign the EPA to determine priority substances for review based on existing data. If necessary, it may also authorize the EPA to mandate testing. The Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010 will also introduce incentives to encourage green chemistry. Chemical manufacturers and intermediate manufacturers will be required to provide their downstream users with basic information on the safety of their chemicals to ensure they can choose safer materials. Furthermore, for persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances (PBTs), the Act will establish an emergency mechanism with the EPA to reduce their exposure risks.
