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.
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.