TSCA Modernization Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation, which is the product of much negotiation--which is an understatement, I think--in an effort to find consensus.

Congress first enacted the Toxic Substances Control Act 40 years ago to protect Americans from the risks posed by chemicals in commerce. It has not been reauthorized since. Since its original enactment, the law has become outdated, and efforts to modernize it have been ongoing for several years with great difficulty. Under current law, it has become hard for the EPA to ban even substances that are known to cause cancer, such as asbestos.

The bill before us today is a breakthrough after a significant amount of work. It represents a compromise that, while not perfect, as everyone has noted, is a great improvement over current law. And it will help the EPA protect Americans from harmful, toxic substances and safeguard our environment.

This bill will require the EPA to evaluate both existing and new chemical substances against a new risk-based, scientific safety standard that includes specific considerations for populations more vulnerable to chemical exposure, such as children, seniors, and pregnant women. It also ensures that the EPA can order testing immediately for substances suspected of placing Americans at risk.

This bill improves public transparency of chemical information, provides for clear and enforceable deadlines to review prioritized chemicals, and takes action to mitigate any identified risk.

In short, this is a bill that reflects the kind of compromise across the aisle we ought to be seeing more of in this House. It is fittingly named after Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, who spent his career working to make this law more functional.

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Mr. HOYER. I want to first thank the person in my office who worked far harder than I did. I just took her phone calls and talked to Mr. Pallone and talked to Mr. Shimkus from time to time. Mary Frances Repko is one of the hardest working staff members. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mary Frances for the work that she did to get us to where we are. It is not perfect, as she and I agree, but it is a bill that will be better than what we have.

I want to thank, of course, Ranking Member Pallone; my dear friend, Chairman Upton; my friend, John Shimkus, the chairman of the committee; and Mr. Tonko, who is not for this bill. He worked hard to get it to this place. He didn't get there, but he worked hard on that effort.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. It is a work product that has been sincerely achieved by people of goodwill, and it is adjudged by the President of the United States and the administration and by the director of the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency as a significant and important step forward. That is a good deal for the American people.

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