The U.S. Senate appears to be moving closer to acting on a bill that would update the Toxic Substances Control Act. We have posted about this long effort several times.

A version of the bill was passed by the House last June (TSCA Modernization Act, H.R. 2576), and the Senate version (now known as the “Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act” after the late Senator from NJ) came out of the Environment and Public Works Committee in the Spring. Recently the number of Senate co-sponsors jumped to approximately 60, suggesting movement may come.

Both versions are intended to update TSCA, and the Senate bill will likely include  increased funding for EPA from fees on industry,and simplification of the waiver process for states. Possible sticking points include the degree of preemption of state law, a feature that really is necessitated by the need to have some national uniformity.