EPA & Joe Chemical Move to Act on TSCA Reform
Be still my beating heart. The EPA is actually considering regulating chemicals under the law that was put in place in the 1970’s to regulate chemicals: Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Most environmental lawyers don’t even bother looking at TSCA because they assume that it gives them nothing to work with in terms of actually getting toxic chemicals out of our products and environment. But in speaking to state officials attending the Environmental Council of the States’ forum, Jim Jones, EPA’s acting assistant administrator for chemical safety and pollution prevention said, “We will try and exercise some muscle we have not exercised for decades.”
But before I let my heart stop beating completely, there is a catch. While they do plan on exercising the muscle, that old muscle might just be too weak and shredded to bulk up. Jones also told the audience, “We will find out if it is as hard to use as is said.” It sounds like we will know some time “in the near future.”
In the meantime, meet Joe Chemical in Safer Chemicals Healthy Families’ latest ad in Politico for the Safe Chemicals Act, which would inject some steroids into that TSCA muscle so that when the EPA exercises it, it actually does its job.