Senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee are set to scrutinize chemical policies for the second time this month amid negotiations in both chambers to amend the nation’s principal toxics law.
The Subcommittee on Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice and Regulatory Oversight will hold a hearing Wednesday “examining the beneficial use and regulation of chemicals,” according to a news release from the committee.
Likely to be the top subject of the hearing is the Toxic Substances Control Act, which Congress overhauled in 2016 with immense bipartisan support to strengthen EPA’s authority to review and regulate new and existing chemical uses.
Echoing industry complaints, Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), the chair of the subcommittee, along with other Republicans, says the overhauled law has created an overly cautious review process that has bogged down “critical” developments in a range of manufacturing, technology and energy sectors.
