On December 17, 2015, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed
legislation that would overhaul the Toxic Substances Control Act
— S. 697, the “
Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century
Act." S. 697 is sponsored by Sens. Tom Udall,
D-N.M., and David Vitter, R-La., with 60 bipartisan cosponsors,
representing 38 states.
If enacted, S. 697 would lead to sweeping changes for the
regulation of chemicals in the U.S., by requiring safety reviews
for all new and existing chemicals, giving EPA broad testing
authority, and limiting companies' ability to protect
confidential business information indefinitely. Most notably,
S. 697 appears to have struck the right balance to achieve
bipartisan support on the important issue of preemption —
allowing all state laws in effect before August 1, 2015 to remain
in place but precluding states from additional regulation of
chemicals for a given use once EPA has begun its review.
Although the American Chemistry Council and
