U.S. lawmakers have just passed legislation to finally update how toxic chemicals are regulated, but, according to watchdog groups, the changes to “the worst environmental law on the books” still leave consumers at risk.
The House voted to update the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) last month, and the Senate passed the measure Tuesday in a voice vote.
As Reuters sums up,
It got thumbs up from groups like National Association of Chemical Distributors, the National Association of Manufacturers, and “industry champion” and lead Republican author of the act, Sen. David Vitter (La.).
In addition to that backing, though, Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said ahead of his chamber’s vote, “I’ve never seen a more diverse crowd in total agreement than we are with TSCA.” The Associated Press also reports that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle “spoke enthusiastically about the legislation.”
Indeed, it’s been widely described as compromise. Inhofe, for example, told Politico, “You had people who liked it because it was a major environmental achievement and then people who liked it for just the opposite reason.”
When it passed the House on May 24, co-sponsor John Shimkus (R-Ill.) said it was “a vast improvement over current law.”
On that point, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) agrees. But making a few adjustments to what it describes as a severely flawed law still means it falls quite short, the advocacy group argues. EWG senior vice president for government affairs Scott Faber explains some of its specific shortcomings:
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Faber further argues that
According to Karuna Jaggar, executive director of Breast Cancer Action, it’s a “compromise bill […] puts industry interests first and lets down women at risk of and living with breast cancer.”
She notes that “the Senate version of the bill was written by the American Chemistry Council, the chemical industry’s biggest lobbying group.”
“One of the biggest problems,” she continues,
And the chemical industry’s support of the bill is not surprising, adds Carli Jensen, toxics campaign director at U.S. PIRG, as
Further, as Bloomberg reports:
According to a press statement from Sen. Vitter, “the White House confirmed that President Obama would sign the bill into law.”