Embracing the Bumpy Road to Chemical Safety: Op-ed by Steve Caldeira for The Hill
July 12, 2017
Not everything about the federal government is seized by partisan gridlock. A major new program directed by the Environmental Protection Agency remains on course, cheering both environmentalists and industry executives. The program, which strengthens federal regulation of thousands of widely used chemicals, met its June deadline for deciding how to assess those chemicals. Now it needs enough money from Congress to keep going.
The initiative is the product of a law, enacted a year ago, named for the former Democratic senator who championed it, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. It was designed to replace a confusing patchwork of state regulations and retailer restrictions on chemicals. For the first time in decades, the EPA will decide which chemicals are safe and which are toxic in order to provide confidence and clarity to the American consumer. Ten chemicals have been teed up to get the process started.
Not everything about the federal government is seized by partisan gridlock. A major new program directed by the Environmental Protection Agency remains on course, cheering both environmentalists and industry executives. The program, which strengthens federal regulation of thousands of widely used chemicals, met its June deadline for deciding how to assess those chemicals. Now it needs enough money from Congress to keep going.
The initiative is the product of a law, enacted a year ago, named for the former Democratic senator who championed it, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. It was designed to replace a confusing patchwork of state regulations and retailer restrictions on chemicals. For the first time in decades, the EPA will decide which chemicals are safe and which are toxic in order to provide confidence and clarity to the American consumer. Ten chemicals have been teed up to get the process started.
Read the full story at The Hill.