{"id":334888,"date":"2026-01-16T14:41:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T19:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/?post_type=to4_article_post&#038;p=334888"},"modified":"2026-01-16T14:41:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T19:41:34","slug":"house-gop-bill-would-roll-back-key-protections-in-us-chemical-safety-law","status":"publish","type":"to4_article_post","link":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/articles\/house-gop-bill-would-roll-back-key-protections-in-us-chemical-safety-law\/","title":{"rendered":"House GOP Bill Would Roll Back Key Protections in US Chemical Safety Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"truth-post-content-before\" id=\"truth-3881601604\"><div class=\"popmake-campaign-banners-donate-modal callout callout inline-callout mb-5 callout--text callout--text\" id=\"truth-304025\" data-callout-id=\"304025\" data-callout-theme=\"text\" data-callout-placement=\"Undefined\" data-callout-title=\"BCB 304025 Truthout is an indispensable resource...\"><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/support.truthout.org\/-\/XXQLBDSX\/&amp;utm_source=truthout&amp;utm_medium=bcb&amp;utm_campaign=304025\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">quick donation<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><aside class=\"wp-block-truthout-aside-block\">\n      <p><em>This story was originally published by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewlede.org\/2026\/01\/tsca-chemical-regulation-amendment-house-gop\/\"><\/em>The New Lede.<em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n  <\/aside>\n\n\n<p>In a widely anticipated move, House Republicans released a draft bill that would roll back several provisions in the nation\u2019s premier chemical safety law with the stated goal of bolstering manufacturing and innovation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net\/H_R_Discussion_Draft_of_Legislation_to_Modernize_the_Toxic_Substances_Control_Act_1_3f4f956a9a.pdf\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bill<\/a> would amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a federal law under which the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) evaluates chemicals to make sure human and environmental health will be protected before chemicals are put into the marketplace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the proposal, chemicals approved in certain other countries would be fast-tracked by the EPA and the agency would be required to prioritize chemicals that are designed to be substitutes for more harmful ones or chemicals aimed at easing supply-chain risks for critical materials. <\/p><div class=\"truth-post-content-high\" id=\"truth-149479109\"><div class=\"callout inline-callout p-4 mb-5 callout--subscribe callout--dark\" id=\"truth-255394\" data-callout-id=\"255394\" data-callout-theme=\"dark\" data-callout-placement=\"Post Content - High\" data-callout-title=\"Stay in the loop\"><h2>Stay in the loop<\/h2>\n<p>Never miss the news and analysis you care about.<\/p>\n<script>\nvar 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);\n<\/script>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The House Subcommittee on Environment will <a href=\"https:\/\/energycommerce.house.gov\/posts\/chairmen-guthrie-and-palmer-announce-legislative-hearing-to-modernize-america-s-chemical-safety-law\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hold a hearing<\/a> on the draft bill on January 22. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGetting TSCA back on track is critical for American chemistry and for the industries like energy, healthcare and agriculture that rely on our innovations,\u201d American Chemistry Council (ACC) president and CEO Chris Jahn said in a statement. \u201cAmerica\u2019s chemical manufacturers depend on a regulatory system that is timely, predictable, and grounded in the best available science.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The draft bill was introduced Thursday by Rep. Brett Guthrie, a Kentucky Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Gary Palmer, a Republican from Alabama who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/energycommerce.house.gov\/posts\/chairmen-guthrie-and-palmer-announce-legislative-hearing-to-modernize-america-s-chemical-safety-law\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">joint statement<\/a>, the pair said the reforms would \u201cincrease accountability, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and safeguard the health and safety of our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The draft drew swift and fierce criticism from environmental and health advocates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis bill is a chemical lobby wish list,\u201d Liz Hitchcock, director of Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, a program within the Toxic-Free Future nonprofit, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TSCA was updated in 2016 with bipartisan support, and has since drawn the ire of the chemical industry, which says it is unnecessarily slow and unreliable, and is stifling US innovation. Congressional Republicans echoed these industry talking points in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewlede.org\/2025\/10\/tsca-chemical-review-partisan-divide\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">several hearings<\/a> last year, and environmental groups have been bracing for a bill targeting TSCA and pleading with Congress to leave it intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The proposed amendments include numerous instances of softened language around industry requirements. For example, in multiple places where existing language requires chemical makers to make changes so that \u201cthe chemical substance or mixture no longer presents such risk,\u201d the amendments change to minimize risk \u201cto the extent reasonably feasible.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bill also prohibits the EPA from restricting any chemicals used in aerospace fire suppression that have been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration or the Department of Defense. Such firefighting foams were previously a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewlede.org\/2025\/08\/congress-proposes-scrapping-pfas-measures-that-protect-public-servants-and-others\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">major source<\/a> of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Environmental and health groups said the changes undermine previous bipartisan support on the bill, allowing more new chemicals onto the market with little safety data. The bill would weaken the nation\u2019s key defense against toxics that people \u2014 especially vulnerable populations like pregnant women, children, workers and frontline communities near polluting industries \u2014 are routinely exposed to, critics charge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTearing down these protections would allow more chemicals, like PFAS, to come to market without a proper safety review. Americans don\u2019t want potentially toxic chemicals fast-tracked into their lives,\u201d Joanna Slaney, vice president for political and government affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Chemical Review Delays <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year Congressional Republicans started echoing industry frustrations with TSCA. Specifically, that the TSCA review process is too slow, creating uncertainty for companies and pushing chemical innovations out of the US. The EPA conducts new chemical reviews within its 90-day deadline less than 10% of the time, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/products\/gao-23-105728\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2023 report <\/a>from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ltEbhReNS_Y?si=8ahkGa2jinWCANWv\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis regulatory uncertainty and delay holds back innovation and makes it difficult to invest in technologies we desperately need \u2026 15 to 20 years ago, the vast majority of new chemistry science came from the United States and Europe,\u201d Peter Huntsman, president and CEO of the Huntsman Corporation, said in an October Senate hearing on TSCA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Influential industry groups, such as the ACC, have for years <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanchemistry.com\/better-policy-regulation\/chemical-management\/toxic-substances-control-act-tsca\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">advocated<\/a> for TSCA changes. The proposed amendments would require the EPA to make public how long it took the agency to complete reviews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis legislation represents a vital opportunity to get TSCA working as intended [and] reduce the backlog of new chemical reviews,\u201d Jahn said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addressing industry concerns, Suhani Chitalia, a senior manager of federal affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund, said delays happen, but \u201cchemicals are getting approved. There are very few that are not approved or approved with very strict restrictions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEPA\u2019s main and primary authority is to make sure that a chemical does not pose an unreasonable risk prior to it going onto the market,\u201d Chitalia said. \u201cA lot of these delays happen because there\u2019s just this back and forth between the EPA and industry.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIndustry often wants to minimize restrictions to their chemical and go back and forth on data with the EPA \u2013 it\u2019s like a student getting a bad grade and re-doing their paper over and over again until they get the grade they want.\u201d she added. \u201cIn reality, they should have just done their assignment correctly the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, some delays in the chemical approvals are due to staffing shortages at the EPA and companies needing to submit more data, Tracey Woodruff, director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at the University of California, San Francisco, said at an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewlede.org\/2025\/10\/tsca-chemical-review-partisan-divide\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">October TSCA hearing<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Health advocates also pointed out that prior to the 2016 amendments, if the EPA didn\u2019t act on a submitted chemical within 90 days then the chemical could go on the market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe had thousands of chemicals on the market with very little review and that led us to the proliferation of PFAS chemicals, for example,\u201d Hitchcock said in an interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Worker Protections in Jeopardy <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Rebecca Reindel, the director of occupational safety and health for the AFL-CIO, said the weakening of TSCA is not just an environmental problem \u2014 but a workplace one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe hear a lot about the environmental impacts and the community and consumer impact, which are all really important parts of this bill. But the occupational aspects are absolutely critical as well,\u201d Reindel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The proposed amendments direct the EPA to take federal occupational safety and health standards into account in chemical reviews, meaning personal protective equipment and other measures that could deem it a lower risk to workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reindel said TSCA has allowed the EPA to address potential chemical exposures and risks for workers in \u201ca much deeper\u201d way than the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere is a myth that we\u2019ve heard from the chemical industry that the EPA should not be involved in worker protection or worker occupational exposures. But TSCA was specifically written so that the EPA could fill the gaps that OSHA could not,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t support re-opening [TSCA]. It\u2019s taken a lot of steps and a lot of legwork to get where we are,\u201d  she added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>EPA Targeting TSCA <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The EPA under Trump has already targeted aspects of TSCA. In September the agency <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewlede.org\/2025\/09\/epa-tsca-rollbacks\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposed getting rid<\/a> of TSCA amendments added during the Biden administration and, in a separate announcement, said that it will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/newsreleases\/epa-prioritizes-review-new-chemicals-used-data-center-projects-supporting-american\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fast track the review of chemicals<\/a> needed in data center projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The agency also <a href=\"https:\/\/advocacy.sba.gov\/2025\/12\/04\/epa-seeks-comment-on-updated-formaldehyde-risk-calculation-memo\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently announced<\/a> it plans to significantly increase the threshold for inhalation of known-carcinogen formaldehyde, which is regulated under TSCA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any changes to administering TSCA will be in the hands of the former industry lobbyists now heading up the EPA\u2019s chemicals office. Nancy Beck, a former chemical industry executive with the American Chemistry Council (ACC) is the agency\u2019s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention\u2019s (OCSPP) principal deputy assistant administrator, and Lynn Ann Dekleva, formerly with DuPont and the ACC, is the office\u2019s deputy assistant administrator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Douglas Troutman, the OCSPP\u2019s assistant administrator, most recently served as an interim CEO and lobbyist at the American Cleaning Institute, an organization that represents the cleaning products industry and frequently pushes back against the regulation of chemicals, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleaninginstitute.org\/industry-priorities\/policy\/toxic-substances-control-act\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">including TSCA<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"truth-post-content-after\" id=\"truth-2666489174\"><div class=\"callout inline-callout p-4 mb-5 callout-- callout--white\" id=\"truth-334871\" data-callout-id=\"334871\" data-callout-theme=\"white\" data-callout-placement=\"Post Content - After\" data-callout-title=\"2026-01 Main Campaign (FRU) Trump is silencing political dissent. We appeal for your support.\">\n<div class=\"p-2 text-start\">\n<h5 class=\"pb-2\" style=\"text-transform: uppercase; font-family: var(--bs-font-sans-serif); text-align: center;\">Trump is silencing political dissent. We appeal for your support.<\/h5>\n<p class=\"mb-3\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Progressive nonprofits are the latest target caught in Trump\u2019s crosshairs. With the aim of eliminating political opposition, Trump and his sycophants are working to curb government funding, constrain private foundations, and even cut tax-exempt status from organizations he dislikes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-3\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>We\u2019re concerned, because Truthout is not immune to such bad-faith attacks.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-3\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We can only resist Trump\u2019s attacks by cultivating a strong base of support. The right-wing mediasphere is funded comfortably by billionaire owners and venture capitalist philanthropists. At Truthout, we have you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-3\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Truthout has launched a fundraiser to raise $45,000 in the next 8 days. <\/strong>Please take a meaningful action in the fight against authoritarianism: make a one-time or monthly donation to Truthout. If you have the means, please dig deep.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"m-0\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"#XEGQPXGY\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThis bill is a chemical lobby wish list,\u201d said one critic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":334889,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[91698],"tags":[30222,10272,1992,1002,472,823,41968,180,282,736,35329,328],"section":[26],"primary_topic":[16],"series":[],"admin_tag":[],"class_list":["post-334888","to4_article_post","type-to4_article_post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-american-chemistry-council","tag-chemicals","tag-deregulation","tag-epa","tag-gop","tag-lobbyists","tag-pfas","tag-public-health","tag-republicans","tag-revolving-door","tag-toxic-substances-control-act","tag-workplace-safety","section-environment-and-health","primary_topic-environment"],"acf":[],"related_articles":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/to4_article_post\/334888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/to4_article_post"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/to4_article_post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334888"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=334888"},{"taxonomy":"primary_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary_topic?post=334888"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=334888"},{"taxonomy":"admin_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/admin_tag?post=334888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}