Read the full article by Cheryl Hogue (C&EN).
“Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives generally agree that a 2016 law is slowing the entry of new chemicals into the US market, including materials needed for artificial intelligence and military applications.
But they are at loggerheads on draft legislation that Republicans are promoting—and that the chemical industry is backing—to accelerate the pace of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s review of new substances before they enter commerce.
The EPA conducts those reviews under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which governs industrial chemicals. When Congress updated TSCA in 2016, both industry and environmental advocates initially praised the revised statute.
But within a year, industry began complaining about delays in getting new chemicals into commerce. The 2016 version of TSCA requires the EPA to affirm the safety of each new chemical before the substance enters the market. The requirements of the revised statute have slowed premanufacture review at the agency.”…