Senators unveiled bipartisan legislation Wednesday that would codify EPA’s popular, voluntary toxic-free labeling program, in a bid to protect the effort that some conservatives have targeted as wasteful spending.
Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware introduced the “Safer Choice Program Authorization Act,” S. 4664, enshrining a program that has operated for more than a decade.
Businesses may submit their products to EPA to verify it does not contain unsafe chemicals, allowing companies to apply the Safer Choice logo, as seen on more than 2,000 products, primarily for cleaning. The bill describes the existing program as a “voluntary, market-based initiative.”
“This Act will … provide greater certainty, transparency, and continuity for participants in the programs, while preserving the voluntary, nonregulatory nature of the programs; and support United States competitiveness, consumer choice, and continued innovation in safer chemistry,” the measure reads.
