{ "id": "RL34118", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL34118", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 366628, "date": "2009-07-28", "retrieved": "2016-04-07T02:22:02.451971", "title": "The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): Implementation and New Challenges", "summary": "The basic structure of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 has never been amended, but recent legal, scientific, and technological changes are prompting some policy makers to reexamine the law. The Kid-Safe Chemicals Act (H.R. 6100/S. 3040 in the 110th Congress) would have reshaped risk assessment and management of industrial chemicals in U.S. commerce. TSCA currently regulates potential risks based on three policies: (1) Chemical manufacturers are responsible for testing chemicals to determine their potential effects on health and the environment; (2) EPA should regulate chemicals that present an unreasonable risk to health or the environment; and (3) EPA\u2019s implementation of the law should not create unnecessary economic barriers to technological innovation. Few have expressed concern about the last TSCA purpose, but TSCA\u2019s progress in achieving the first two goals has been debated: where some see success, others see failure, and both groups point to EPA\u2019s history of implementation and voluntary initiatives in support of their views. EPA has compiled an inventory of roughly 82,000 chemicals that have been produced in, or imported into, the United States at some time since 1976. The agency has promulgated regulations to restrict production or use of five chemicals under TSCA.\nRecently, many states and localities have acted to regulate chemicals not regulated under TSCA using state or local authority. A few states are considering broad new laws to regulate chemicals more generally. Some large chemical manufacturers, processors, and distributors object to the emerging legal patchwork. The U.S. Congress also has considered, and in several cases enacted, legislation restricting use of specific chemicals. For example, in the 110th Congress, S. 742 and H.R. 6903 would have banned many asbestos-containing materials from U.S. commerce. Multinational companies also are faced with a variety of national laws restricting international commerce in chemicals. International cooperation to harmonize regulations, and to eliminate certain persistent pollutants, has led to several international agreements that aim to ease the legal confusion, but amendments to TSCA would be required if the United States were to fully implement the agreements. New laws in other nations also have provided alternative models for chemical regulation, which some would prefer to TSCA. Others defend the current U.S. approach, arguing that TSCA is based on sound, risk-based science. \nRecent progress in science and technology also pose challenges to EPA implementation of TSCA. Scientists now know that the timing and duration of exposure to a chemical can determine its effects, as can the age, gender, and heritable traits of people who are exposed. Biotechnology and nanotechnology have created genetically modified organisms and nanomaterials, respectively, which EPA must categorize as \u201cexisting\u201d or \u201cnew\u201d and manage as \u201cchemical substances\u201d under TSCA. \nFaced with these challenges to TSCA, some analysts, and many in the regulated community, nevertheless believe that TSCA has performed as intended, and they support TSCA in its current form. They praise TSCA as a flexible, efficient, and effective limit to over-regulation. Other legal commentators, analysts, and some policy makers want to amend TSCA which, they contend, has not accomplished the tasks laid out for it by Congress, and is unlikely to do better in the future.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL34118", "sha1": "1a7264a257800a67d6f89a083c644faf0e1fc335", "filename": "files/20090728_RL34118_1a7264a257800a67d6f89a083c644faf0e1fc335.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL34118", "sha1": "6a16f7dd5f1d3e63634b33b20b4a887885f73c29", "filename": "files/20090728_RL34118_6a16f7dd5f1d3e63634b33b20b4a887885f73c29.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc94111/", "id": "RL34118_2008Sep18", "date": "2008-09-18", "retrieved": "2012-07-24T12:39:36", "title": "The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): Implementation and New Challenges", "summary": "This report provides an overview of basic Toxic Supstances Control Act (TSCA) provisions, briefly examines the history of TSCA implementation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and describes the legal, scientific, and technological developments that are being used to provide support to calls for TSCA reform.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080918_RL34118_c098d5d0ae7f0c579e1160cbbcad64d4c2ccf77b.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080918_RL34118_c098d5d0ae7f0c579e1160cbbcad64d4c2ccf77b.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Hazardous substances", "name": "Hazardous substances" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Poisons", "name": "Poisons" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Toxic substances legislation", "name": "Toxic substances legislation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Environmental law and legislation", "name": "Environmental law and legislation" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc463187/", "id": "RL34118_2008Jul18", "date": "2008-07-18", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): Implementation and New Challenges", "summary": "This report provides an overview of basic Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) provisions, briefly examines the history of TSCA implementation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and describes the legal, scientific, and technological developments that are being used to provide support to calls for TSCA reform.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080718_RL34118_940733051ec8fdd70c588cd69489fa1fd06a82df.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080718_RL34118_940733051ec8fdd70c588cd69489fa1fd06a82df.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Hazardous substances", "name": "Hazardous substances" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Poisons", "name": "Poisons" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Toxic substances legislation", "name": "Toxic substances legislation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Environmental law and legislation", "name": "Environmental law and legislation" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc815003/", "id": "RL34118_2007Aug03", "date": "2007-08-03", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA): Implementation and New Challenges", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20070803_RL34118_5bbde5d58e494c040f59be9e16e505c8b8d1dfba.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20070803_RL34118_5bbde5d58e494c040f59be9e16e505c8b8d1dfba.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "American Law" ] }