House Republicans keen on rewriting chemicals law

By Ellie Borst | 01/23/2025 06:47 AM EST

Democrats on an Energy and Commerce subcommittee were more circumspect on making changes to the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) speaks with reporters on Jan. 6, 2023.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), new chair of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment, said Wednesday that the revamped chemicals law is "still not working." Francis Chung/POLITICO

House Republicans are itching to rewrite the federal toxics law, but Democrats seem hesitant to go along.

At a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment hearing Wednesday, Republicans appeared united on modifying key parts of the Toxic Substances Control Act to smooth over complaints from chemical industry groups.

“I’m glad we’ve hit the ground running with this hearing and hope that we have signaled our commitment to dig into the statutory language to find out where we can make the law work better for all interested parties,” said Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), chair of the subcommittee.

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Before Congress passed bipartisan amendments to the TSCA in 2016, everyone — Republicans and Democrats, environmental and industry groups — agreed the 1976 law was broken and in need of major reform.

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