{ "id": "R44024", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R44024", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 442764, "date": "2015-07-08", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T22:45:00.975752", "title": "Proposed Amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in the 114th Congress: S. 697, S. 725, and H.R. 2576", "summary": "Enacted in 1976, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is the primary federal law that governs the regulation of chemicals in commerce. TSCA authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine whether regulatory control of a chemical substance is necessary to provide protection against \u201cunreasonable risks\u201d to those who are potentially exposed or to the environment. For several years leading up to the 114th Congress, there have been various legislative proposals to amend Title I of TSCA to revise the chemical evaluation process and the criteria by which chemical substances would be regulated and to address certain other related purposes. \nOn June 23, 2015, the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015 (H.R. 2576) was passed by the House under suspension of the rules on a 398-1 vote. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce had previously reported the bill. The report is H.Rept. 114-176. On April 28, 2015, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (Senate EPW) ordered that the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S. 697) be reported for Senate floor consideration on a 15-5 vote. On June 18, 2015, the Senate EPW filed the report (S.Rept. 114-67). Another bill introduced in the Senate, the Alan Reinstein and Trevor Schaefer Toxic Chemical Protection Act (S. 725), has not been reported out of committee. The Senate bills present fairly broad approaches to revising the evaluation process of chemical substances to determine whether regulatory control is warranted and propose various other changes to the TSCA framework, while H.R. 2576 takes a more targeted approach in amending specific provisions of Title I of TSCA.\nAll three bills would address many key issues regarding the federal role in regulating chemical substances. This report discusses selected issues that have received considerable attention and provides a comparison of the current proposals\u2019 differing approaches to revise Title I of TSCA. This report does not present a comprehensive analysis of all provisions of relevant legislation, nor is this report intended to provide a detailed analysis of specific language and its legal or regulatory interpretation. \nThe following selected issues are described in more detail in the report and in the context of current TSCA and the three bills:\nThe prioritization of existing chemical substances for the evaluation of risks;\nThe regulatory threshold criteria under which EPA would be authorized to restrict a chemical substance;\nThe regulatory options available to EPA in restricting a chemical substance found to warrant regulation;\nThe authority of EPA to require the development of new information regarding a chemical substance; \nThe preemption of state laws concerning the regulation of chemicals;\nThe disclosure and protection from disclosure of information submitted to EPA; and\nThe resources that may be available for EPA to administer the act.\nThis report was updated to reflect legislative actions in Congress as of July 7, 2015. The report will be updated as necessary as the debate and consideration of legislation continues.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44024", "sha1": "9474ceda6f1cc7d8a4820692285a664c40622c2a", "filename": "files/20150708_R44024_9474ceda6f1cc7d8a4820692285a664c40622c2a.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44024", "sha1": "cd15013adcfdf5e2536599486f9a9b33e69b5293", "filename": "files/20150708_R44024_cd15013adcfdf5e2536599486f9a9b33e69b5293.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc689112/", "id": "R44024_2015May12", "date": "2015-05-12", "retrieved": "2015-08-03T15:06:47", "title": "Proposed Amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in the 114th Congress: S. 697, S. 725, and a House Discussion Draft", "summary": "This report tracks the legislative status in the 114th Congress of proposals to amend Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act and includes a discussion of selected issues that have received more attention. This report does not present a comprehensive analysis of all provisions of relevant legislation, nor is this report intended to provide a detailed analysis of precise language and its legal or regulatory interpretation.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20150512_R44024_d9c4ca101b9e1519b3c16298ee2f1c3c46cd73b0.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20150512_R44024_d9c4ca101b9e1519b3c16298ee2f1c3c46cd73b0.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Hazardous substances", "name": "Hazardous substances" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Toxic substances legislation", "name": "Toxic substances legislation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Environmental law and legislation", "name": "Environmental law and legislation" } ] } ], "topics": [] }