Congress - TSCA

Soap Makers’ Group Presses Senators To Address New Chemical SNURs

Cleaning product manufacturers are calling on key members of the Senate environment committee to make “targeted changes to TSCA” to address what they describe as onerous restrictions EPA places on new chemicals, which their trade group argues limits their marketability. The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) in an Oct. 23 letter submitted to the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee and its chemical safety subcommittee raises longstanding industry complaints about the slow pace of...

Dekleva Notes ‘Pretty Radical’ Provisions In Draft House TSCA Legislation

The draft bill House lawmakers are crafting to revise TSCA contains some “pretty radical” language that may or not be viable, although other passages are “reasonable,” Lynn Dekleva, a top Trump EPA chemicals official, told attendees at a recent public forum on industrial chemicals regulation. “We have seen some information come from [the House] Energy and Commerce [Committee],” which is “working on bipartisan work,” Dekleva, deputy assistant administration in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), said Oct...

Key Senate EPW Members Hint At Priorities For Bipartisan TSCA Talks

The chair and ranking member of the Senate environment committee’s chemicals panel are signaling a desire to work together to address concerns about consumer exposure to PFAS and other harmful chemicals in any TSCA reform push, though prospects for any legislation remain dim given partisan differences and other concerns. During the Oct. 23 hearing before the environment committee’s Subcommittee on Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the ranking member, asked Tracey Woodruff, a...

House Lawmakers Raise Concerns About Bipartisan TSCA Bill Prospects

Two members of a key House panel -- one Democrat, one Republican -- are raising concerns about a closing window to revise TSCA, noting that the shutdown and a toxic partisan relationship are creating more challenges to the effort, even as the Democrat says a bipartisan approach would provide the most enduring solution. Reps. Gary Palmer (R-AL), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment subpanel, and Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), a subcommittee member, made their remarks at the U.S...

PCRM Seeks TSCA Changes To Reduce Animal Testing, Boost Transparency

An animal welfare group, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), is seeking TSCA legislative changes to reduce animal testing and increase transparency about the animal tests EPA uses and orders, including a move that could align with industry and Republicans’ efforts to streamline EPA’s reviews of new chemicals. PCRM staff have spoken with congressional staff in recent weeks about their asks, following a Sept. 16 letter the group sent to chairmen and ranking members of the Senate environment committee...

EPW Reschedules Chemical Regulation Hearing As House Nears TSCA Draft

The Senate environment committee has re-scheduled for next week its long-pending oversight hearing on chemicals regulation, which could offer insight into a bipartisan TSCA bill Chairman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) recently reiterated the panel is crafting while House Republicans prepare to release a draft bill of their own. The Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) announced Oct. 16 that the panel’s chemical safety subcommittee, chaired by Sen. John Curtis (R-UT), will hold an Oct. 23 hearing titled, “Examining the Beneficial...

Senate TSCA Bill Talks Remain ‘Very Preliminary’ As House Readies Draft

Senators are still in “very preliminary” talks on proposed legislative changes to TSCA, underscoring the slow progress on environment committee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito’s (R-WV) goal of developing a bipartisan bill to address frustrations with how EPA has implemented the statute’s 2016 changes under a whipsaw of administrations. “There's just kind of active conversations . . . trying to . . . see what folks’ red lines are, and what their asks are,” one Democratic staffer tells Inside TSCA ...

GOP Poised To Swiftly Confirm Troutman Over Democrats’ Stiff Opposition

Senate Republicans appear headed to confirm Doug Troutman to lead EPA’s chemicals office over strident objections from Democrats on the Senate environment committee due to Troutman’s industry ties, with the committee chairman also securing Troutman’s commitment to work with the committee on additional reforms to TSCA. In her opening remarks at Troutman’s Oct. 8 confirmation hearing, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, described Troutman as a “well-qualified nominee[],” adding that she supports his...

EPA Poised To Shut Down TSCA Program Despite Funding From User Fees

EPA’s newly released contingency plan for the looming government shutdown excludes the TSCA program from its summary list of “significant agency activities that will continue during a lapse” in funding, indicating the program will cease operating despite the user fees EPA collects for mandated activities under TSCA sections 4, 5 and 6. The contingency plan EPA released Sept. 30 indicates that Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) activities, many already behind schedule, will only fall farther behind. These include the backlogged...

Chemical Industry Urges TSCA ‘Adjustment’ To Preempt State PFAS Rules

Chemical sector groups are urging lawmakers to make an “adjustment” to TSCA in order to preempt state PFAS rules in Minnesota, Maine and other states, one of a series of actions they are seeking as part of the Trump administration’s broad effort to target state laws “adversely affect the national economy.” “One potential adjustment to TSCA’s preemption provision is that states could be preempted from enacting or enforcing state PFAS in products laws to the extent EPA has concluded that...

Industry Groups Press Congress For Action On Consensus TSCA Priorities

As House Republicans prepare to unveil TSCA reform legislation, a broad alliance of industry trade groups is urging key members of Congress to further revise the law in line with new consensus priorities the groups have agreed to after appearing to resolve divisions that had split them earlier this year. The American Alliance for Innovation (AAI), representing scores of trade groups from the American Chemistry Council to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the Household & Commercial Products Association, National...

In Surprise, House Poised To Unveil Draft TSCA Reform Bill Ahead Of Senate

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are poised to release a draft TSCA reform bill soon after lawmakers return from their summer recess next week, sources say, a surprise given that many observers expected the Senate to go first on advancing any legislation. “The House was putting pen to paper this month with hopes of having some draft when Congress returns,” an industry source tells Inside TSCA . “Last I heard, they are ahead of the Senate.” Such...

Observers See TSCA Reform Continuing Amid OCSPP Pick’s Moderate Views

Douglas Troutman, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as EPA’s chemicals chief, brings a “middle-of-the-road” perspective and an interest in improving TSCA new-chemical reviews, observers say, though he is still widely expected to advance the Trump EPA’s deregulatory agenda amid staffing uncertainty and stakeholder clashes. Trump nominated Troutman , acting CEO and general counsel of the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) -- formerly the Soap and Detergent Association -- to head the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) on...

Citing Ruling, PCRM Seeks To Toughen TSCA’s Limits On Animal Testing

Citing a landmark appellate court ruling, an animal rights group is developing a list of proposed legislative reforms that will strengthen TSCA’s current provisions on reducing animal testing and bolstering newer, non-animal testing methods should Congress make legislative changes to the statue alongside reauthorizing EPA’s TSCA fees. A source with Physicians Committee on Responsible Medicine (PCRM) tells Inside TSCA the group is looking mostly for changes to TSCA section 4, which discusses chemical testing authorities. The group is seeking...

Trump Nominates ACI Executive To Serve As EPA Chemicals Chief

President Donald Trump has nominated Douglas Troutman, the acting CEO and general counsel of the cleaning industry’s trade group, to serve as EPA’s next chemicals chief, picking a nominee with a commitment to consensus at a time when the TSCA program faces significant uncertainty and major clashes between industry and environmentalists. The White House July 30 transmitted Troutman’s nomination to be EPA’s “Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances,” though the office he will lead if confirmed is the Office of Chemical...

Senate Seeks $16 Million FY26 Boost To TSCA Program, Teeing Up Debate

Senate appropriators are seeking to provide EPA with almost $113 million for TSCA risk and reduction activities in fiscal year 2026, a $16.6 million boost over FY25 levels, teeing up a potential debate with House appropriators and the Trump administration, which are both seeking to provide significantly less for the program. The Senate appropriations committee voted 26-2 July 24 to approve EPA’s FY2026 spending legislation and advance it to the Senate floor for a vote. Once approved by the full...

House GOP Appropriators Back EPA Bid To Revise TSCA Framework Rule

House GOP appropriators are directing EPA in report language accompanying the agency’s fiscal year 2026 spending bill to consider specific changes to the Biden-era TSCA “framework” rule that guides how evaluations of existing chemicals are conducted and revise the agency’s agreement with OSHA over workplace regulation. The report language , released July 22, expresses the House Appropriations Committee’s support for the Trump EPA’s planned reconsideration of the framework procedural rule, “specifically the Agency’s reconsideration of issuing a single risk determination...

House GOP Advances FY26 Spending Bill With CSB, TSCA Bridge Funding

Republicans on a House appropriations panel have advanced to the full committee a funding bill for EPA and related agencies that funds the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) despite the Trump administration’s proposal to zero it out, though subcommittee Democrats opposed the bill’s 23 percent overall cut to EPA. The bill also contains funding for the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) program, including funds to bridge the time between EPA’s expenditure of funds related to chemical reviews and...

Environmentalists Strongly Oppose Push For Legislative TSCA Changes

Environmentalists are steadfastly opposing industry efforts to revise the 2016 reforms to TSCA, arguing not enough time has passed to know whether additional changes are needed and that administrative tweaks could address many of industry’s concerns while also questioning whether reauthorizing the fees program is necessary. Their position makes it even less likely that Senate Democrats, who were already downplaying prospects for a deal on TSCA reform, are likely to reach an agreement with Republicans. Daniel Rosenberg, director of federal...

Chemical Industry Weighs Congressional Options To Protect Safer Choice

Chemical industry advocates are weighing a legislative campaign to enshrine the Safer Choice program in statute as conservatives argue for privatization -- though an industry source says EPA has backed off its threats to shutter the program. Although such considerations are still in their earliest stages, the source says such a codification could happen during the 119th Congress if sponsors step up. The potential effort comes amid widespread industry concerns that EPA could close down the program. The agency has...

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