Local industry support new bill that subjects more chemicals to regulation

Capitol Hill’s proposed Udall-Vitter bill aimed at overhauling the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act has drawn criticism from environmentalists and Congressional opponents, but the chemical industry considers it a move that’s long overdue.

“We’ve supported the effort for several years because we feel like the original toxic control act is outdated,” said Tommy Faucheux, head of Dow’s Southeast U.S. State Government Affairs. “We think it’ll benefit us, our customers and the industry overall.”

Critics have called the bill a gift to the chemical industry.

But Faucheux said science evolving, the number of chemicals growing into the thousands and states imposing their own regulation on chemicals prompted the Udall-Vitter bill.The proposed bill, sponsored by U.S. Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Tom Udall, D-N.M., would subject more chemicals to regulation, set minimum requirements and timelines for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) testing, establish a fee system to finance the program and address major weaknesses in the 1976 act.

“The new bill would regulate based on today’s science, and more efficiently and transparently with our customers to see how chemicals are evaluated by the government and, ultimately, improving standard application,” he said. “It allows us to innovate and create new uses for our products uniformly used throughout the U.S.”

Faucheux said Dow, along wth the industry and American Chemistry Council, have been asking for reforms for several years.

While the EPA has said it does not a position on the bill, it has told lawmakers that it is consistent with the six principals the Obama administration set in 2009 to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act.

 

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