{"id":4263,"date":"2015-04-16T08:51:14","date_gmt":"2015-04-16T13:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/?p=4263"},"modified":"2025-07-09T13:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T18:58:15","slug":"tsca-reform-legislation-epa-review-of-new-chemicals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2015\/04\/16\/tsca-reform-legislation-epa-review-of-new-chemicals\/","title":{"rendered":"TSCA reform legislation: EPA review of new chemicals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Denison, Ph.D.,\u00a0<\/em>is a Lead Senior Scientist.<\/em><\/p>\n

Part 1<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Part 2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Part 3<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Part 4<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Part 5<\/a><\/p>\n

[UPDATE 5-17-15:\u00a0 On April 28, 2015, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a revised version of the Lautenberg Act<\/a> out of the committee on a bipartisan 15-5 vote.\u00a0 On May 14, 2015, the House Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy passed a revised version of the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015<\/a> out of the subcommittee on a bipartisan 21-0 vote.\u00a0 UPDATE 5-28-15: \u00a0The legislation was formally\u00a0introduced as H.R. 2576<\/a> on May 26, 2015. \u00a0The new versions made no significant changes to the new chemicals provisions discussed below.]<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the second in a series of blog posts<\/a> looking at less talked-about, but critically important, elements of bipartisan legislative proposals to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).\u00a0 This post deals with EPA authority to review new chemicals prior to their entry into commerce.<\/p>\n

TSCA divided the universe of chemicals into two groups:\u00a0 \u201cExisting chemicals\u201d are those on the market at the time the first TSCA Inventory was established (1979), numbering some 62,000 chemicals.\u00a0 These chemicals were grandfathered in by the original law, with no mandate for them to be tested or reviewed for safety.\u00a0 \u201cNew chemicals\u201d are those that entered commerce at some point since 1979, numbering some 23,000 chemicals.\u00a0 Between 500 and 1,000 new chemicals enter commerce in a typical year.\u00a0 (Given these large numbers, it\u2019s surprising how relatively little focus there has been on the way bipartisan reform proposals would address new chemicals.\u00a0 I\u2019ll amplify on this point at the end of this post.) \u00a0<\/p>\n

Section 5 of TSCA provided EPA with authority to review new chemicals prior to market entry.\u00a0 However, it imposed substantial constraints on EPA in conducting those reviews.\u00a0 Under TSCA, a company is generally free to start making and selling a new chemical at the end of a 90-day review period, unless EPA finds the chemical \u201cmay present an unreasonable risk.\u201d \u00a0That is, no affirmative safety decision is required, and the burden is on EPA to find a concern even when safety data are wholly lacking.<\/p>\n

I have blogged extensively about the limitations of EPA\u2019s new chemicals reviews.\u00a0 Let me briefly summarize the key problems here, and refer readers to these blog posts<\/a> for more detail.<\/p>\n