Toxic Substances Control Act: Preliminary Observations on Legislative
Changes to Make TSCA More Effective (Testimony, 07/13/94,
GAO/T-RCED-94-263).

The Toxic Substances Control Act's legal standards for taking regulatory
action are so high that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has
been discouraged from regulating chemicals and has given implementation
of the act a low priority. Furthermore, EPA has interpreted that act so
that it gives preferences to using other health and environmental laws
that do not have the full ranges of controls offered by the act.
Moreover, gaps often exist in the data needed to assess chemicals'
risks, and obtaining the needed data places a heavy burden on EPA.
Industry claims that most of the data collected are confidential,
limiting its dissemination and usefulness to federal and state
organizations with health and safety responsibilities. This testimony
focuses on legislative changes to improve EPA's implementation of the
act.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-RCED-94-263
     TITLE:  Toxic Substances Control Act: Preliminary Observations on 
             Legislative Changes to Make TSCA More Effective
      DATE:  07/13/94
   SUBJECT:  Toxic substances
             Pollution control
             Safety regulation
             Health hazards
             Environmental legislation
             Environmental monitoring
             Testing
             Information dissemination operations
             Confidential records
             Chemical research
IDENTIFIER:  Canada
             European Union
             
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