Tsca Modernization Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, today Congress stands ready to reform the last of the core four environmental statutes. It may do so with a stronger bipartisan vote than any other major environmental statute in recent American history.

For a generation, the American people have been guinea pigs in a terrible chemical experiment. Told that all the advances in our chemistry labs would make us healthier, happier, and safer, American families have had to suffer with decades of a law that did nothing to ensure that was true. That is because when the industry successfully overturned the EPA's proposed ban on asbestos, it also rendered the Toxic Substance Control Act all but unusable. Children shouldn't be unwitting scientific subjects. Today we have a chance to protect them by reforming this failed law.

As ranking Democrat on the Senate subcommittee of jurisdiction, I was one of a handful of Members who participated in an informal conference with the House. With Senators Udall, Boxer, and Merkley, I have prepared a document that is intended to memorialize certain agreements made in the bicameral negotiations that would typically have been included in a conference report.

In our work with the House, we truly did take the best of both bills when it came to enhancing EPA's authority to regulate chemicals.

The degree to which States will be preempted as the Federal Government regulates chemicals has been a source of considerable debate since this bill was first introduced. I have always been a very strong supporter of States' rights to take actions needed to protect their own residents. For many of us, accepting preemption of our States was a difficult decision that we only made as we also secured increases to the robustness of the EPA chemical safety program.

I am particularly pleased that efforts I helped lead resulted in the assurance that Massachusetts' pending flame retardant law will not be subjected to pause preemption and that there is a mechanism in the bill to ensure that States' ongoing work on all chemicals can continue while EPA is studying those chemicals.

The fact that the bill is supported by the EPA, the chemical industry, the chamber of commerce, and the trial lawyers tells you something. The fact that a staggering 403 Members of the House of Representatives voted for this TSCA bill--more than the number who agreed to support the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, or the Safe Drinking Water Act amendments when those laws were reauthorized--tells you something. What it tells you is that we worked together on a bipartisan and bicameral basis to compromise in the way Americans expect us to.

Although there are many people who helped to create this moment, I wish to thank some whose work over the past few months I especially want to recognize.

I thank Bonnie Lautenberg. On behalf of her husband Frank, she was relentless.

Senator Inhofe and his staffers, Ryan Jackson and Dimitri Karakitsos, remained as committed to agreements they made about Senate Democratic priorities as they were to their own commitment priorities throughout this process. I couldn't have imagined a stronger or more constructive partnership.

I would like to thank Senator Udall and his staffers, Drew Wallace and Jonathan Black, whose leadership--especially during these challenging moments--was very important.

I also thank Senator Merkley and his staff, Adrian Deveny, whose creativity often led us to legislative breakthroughs, especially when it came to crafting certain preemption compromises.

My own staff, Michal Freedhoff, has done little but this for 1 consecutive year. This is her 20th year on my staff. With her Ph.D. in biochemistry--it was invaluable in negotiating with the American Chemistry Council and all other interests.

I want to thank many other Members: Senator Boxer; Senator Whitehouse and his staff, Bettina, along with Barbara Boxer; Senator McConnell; Senator Reid; Senator Durbin--all central players in making sure this legislation was here today.

I thank the spectacular and hard-working EPA team, all of whom provided us with technical assistance and other help, often late at night and before the dawn.

I thank Gina McCarthy, Jim Jones, Wendy Cleland-Hamnet, Ryan Wallace, Priscilla Flattery, Kevin McLean, Brian Grant, David Berol, Laura Vaught, Nicole Distefano, Sven-Erik Kaiser, and Tristan Brown.
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Mr. MARKEY. I also thank Ryan Schmit, Don Sadowsky, and Scott Sherlock.

I want to thank Stephenne Harding and Andrew McConville at CEQ, whose day-to-day engagement helped us, especially in these last few weeks.

There are some outside stakeholders who worked particularly closely with my staff and with me, including Andrew Rogers, Andrew Goldberg, Richard Denison, Joanna Slaney, Mike Walls, Rich Gold, and Scott Faber.

I have enjoyed meeting, working with, and partnering with each one of these outstanding people over the last year.

This is a huge bill. It is a historic moment. It is going to make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans. It is the most significant environmental law passed in this generation.

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Mr. MARKEY. The old law did not work. This one is going to protect the American people.

I yield back the remainder of my time.

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Mr. MARKEY. Will the Senator yield?

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Mr. MARKEY. I just want to once again compliment Senator Inhofe and Senator Vitter. It didn't have to wind up this way. It wound up this way because you reached across the aisle, because you ensured that all sides were given a fair hearing, and that at the end of the day there would be this result.

I have been doing this for 40 years. I have been on the Environment Committee for 40 years. This is not easy. From my perspective, it is historic and it is unprecedented in terms of ultimately how easy the Senator made this process. I was there at the table of Superfund, Clean Air Act, all the way down the line. You--you, my friend, have distinguished yourself, and along with Senator Vitter you have made it possible for all of us to hold hands here as this historic bill tonight will pass on the Senate floor.

I just wanted to compliment the Senator.

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Mr. MARKEY. One second. I just wanted to reinforce what the Senator just said. On the House side, Fred Upton, Frank Pallone, Nancy Pelosi, and Steny Hoyer, that incredible staff, Mary Frances Repko, over there, just indispensable. That is why it happened. It is bipartisan, bicameral.

I thank the Senator for yielding.

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