With bipartisan support, President Obama signed into law amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) on June 22, 2016. These revisions will toughen regulations on industrial chemicals in the United States.
The TSCA originally required EPA to compile a list of chemicals that were manufactured, processed, or imported in the United States, and overtime this list has grown to almost 85,000 chemicals. This inventory list will be updated, and the process in which chemicals are added to the list will be modified.
Among other changes, old, new, and current chemicals will all face new regulation under these new rules. Chemicals not on the list 40 years ago are now required to be identified, while the toxicity of existing chemicals will be reevaluated. In addition, new chemicals will not be as easily accepted into commerce.
All existing Confidential Business Information (CBI) claims will be reevaluated under the new amendments, allowing for an increase in consumer knowledge. To see a complete summary of the amendments, visit The National Law Review’s article.