[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 87 (Friday, June 3, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





      FRANK R. LAUTENBERG CHEMICAL SAFETY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. KEITH ELLISON

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 3, 2016

  Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, I support the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical 
Safety for the 21st Century Act because too many Americans are getting 
sick from dangerous, unregulated chemicals found in the products we use 
every day. This bill would protect public health by making long-overdue 
chemical safety reforms.
  Today, industries can release hundreds of chemicals each year into 
our homes and workplaces without any federal requirement to consider 
their safety. Research has linked chemicals used in everyday products, 
such as household cleaners, clothing, and furniture, to serious 
illnesses like cancer, infertility, diabetes and Parkinson's. But 
currently, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)--our broken chemical 
safety law--gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) little 
power to do anything about these dangers. Under TSCA, only a small 
fraction of the thousands of chemicals used in our products have ever 
been reviewed for safety.
  The law is so weak that the EPA couldn't even regulate asbestos. In 
1989, after 10 years of research and more than 100,000 pages of 
administrative record supporting action, the EPA issued a rule under 
TSCA to ban most uses of asbestos. But two years later, the EPA's 
regulation was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals; while 
acknowledging that ``asbestos is a potential carcinogen at all levels 
of exposure,'' the Court ruled that the agency's administrative record 
failed to demonstrate that the regulation was the ``least burdensome 
alternative,'' as required under the law. Since the court's ruling, the 
burden to regulate most toxic substances under TSCA has been 
insurmountable.
  The reforms in the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st 
Century Act would help keep our communities safer by requiring reviews 
for chemicals in use today, mandating greater scrutiny of new 
chemicals, and removing barriers that have prevented the EPA from 
regulating highly toxic substances in the past, such as asbestos.
  This reform is an urgently needed next step, but there are still 
problems with this bill and more work should be done to protect our 
communities. Provisions in this bill sought by the chemical industry 
create unprecedented state preemption standards and put limitations on 
the EPA's ability to monitor chemicals in imported products. Federal 
policy should be seen as a floor, not a ceiling, when it comes to 
establishing standards for public health and safety. We must support 
states, like my home state of Minnesota, that have led the way in 
creating chemical safety standards that protect their residents. Last 
year in Minnesota, we took an important step toward protecting children 
and firefighters' health when the legislature passed a law to prohibit 
four toxic flame retardants (Deca, HBCD, TCEP and TDCPP) from 
children's products and upholstered furniture.
  Policies that preempt state action or restrict EPA's ability to 
monitor imported products threaten public health and safety. We need to 
fight back against these bad policies as we continue our efforts to 
reform TSCA. For my part, I will continue to be an advocate for reform 
that protects public health, not the chemical industry.

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