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Senate Committee Considers Effect of Toxic Chemical Threats

On July 31, the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works held a hearing, “Strengthening Public Health Protections by Addressing Toxic Chemical Threats.” Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Ranking Member David Vitter (R-LA), and members of the committee heard testimony regarding the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA) (S. 1009), a bill sponsored by the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), that would reform the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) (P.L. 94-469). The bill aims “to improve the safety of consumers in the United States and to ensure that risks from chemical substances are adequately understood and managed by modernizing” the TSCA.

Nancy Buermeyer, senior policy strategist, Breast Cancer Fund, said, “The introduction of S. 1009, the [CSIA], has changed the conversation in Washington, DC. No longer are we talking about ‘if’ we should reform the broken chemicals management system set up by the 37-year-old [TSCA]. Now we are engaged in a conversation about what that reform must look like to be meaningful and truly safeguard the American public, and particularly vulnerable populations, from exposures to dangerous chemicals. Protecting public health and the environment should be the primary and overriding goal of TSCA reform. Unfortunately, the Chemical Safety Improvement Act falls short of that goal…The safety standard must explicitly protect vulnerable populations. Pregnant women, children, workers, and communities living in areas of high chemical exposures all need and deserve our protection and by protecting them, we will protect all of us and future generations. The CSIA does not explicitly require a consideration of the health impacts of chemical exposure to our most vulnerable populations, including pregnant mothers, children, workers, or disproportionately exposed communities.”

Andrew R. Hackman, vice president of Government Affairs, Toy Industry Association, Inc. (TIA), said, “TIA recognizes that parents are concerned about chemicals used in everyday products and we fully support efforts to enhance public confidence in the safety and management of chemicals through modernization of the TSCA. Federal action is also urgently needed to address the emergence of new individual state regulations that are resulting in an unworkable patchwork of varying requirements across the nation and that are already significantly impacting innovation and the distribution of toys. We commend the bipartisan sponsors of S. 1009 for their interest in assuring that chemicals and products are safe. TIA and its members share this interest. Toy safety – and assuring that children are safe while at play – is the toy industry’s top priority…S. 1009 offers the best path forward to achieving a reasonable national program that looks at risks from chemicals and their uses in products.”

The following witness also testified:

  • Michael A. Troncoso, senior counsel, Office of the Attorney General, California;
  • H. Michael Dorsey, chief, Homeland Security and Emergency Response, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection;
  • Ken Zarker, manager, Pollution Prevention and Regulatory Assistance Section, Washington State Department of Ecology;
  • Daniel Rosenberg, senior attorney, Natural Resource Defense Council;
  • Thomas McGarity, professor at law, University of Texas at Austin;
  • Linda Fisher, vice president of Safety, Health and Environment and Chief Sustainability Officer, DuPont;
  • Stephen A. Owens, of counsel, Squire Sanders, LLP;
  • Linda Reinstein, executive director and cofounder, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization;
  • Robin Greenwald, of counsel, Weitz & Lezxenberg;
  • Mark Duvall, principal, Beveridge & Diamond, PC;
  • Ken Cook, president and cofounder, Environmental Working Group;
  • Susan Vickers, Religious Sisters of Mercy, vice president of Community Health, Dignity Health;
  • Mauren F. Gorsen, Esq., partner, Alston + Bird, LLP;
  • Jonathan Borak, MD, Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology, clinical professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, clinical professor of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine;
  • Cecil Corbin-Mark, deputy director and director of Policy Initiatives, We Act for Environmental Justice;
  • Dorothy Felix, president, Mossville Environmental Action Now; and
  • Ansje Miller, Eastern States director, Center for Environmental Health.