Differences In House, Senate TSCA Bills Hint At Contentious Conference

摘要

Differences between House and Senate Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform bills on major issues such as preemption of state chemicals programs and EPA prioritization for reviewing substances hint at likely contentious conference committee talks to try and close the policy gaps if lawmakers want TSCA reform to succeed. "The main difference now [between the House and Senate bills] is preemption," says one environmentalist, with the scaled-back House legislation taking a narrower approach to blocking state programs than a much broader Senate bill introduced by Sens. David Vitter (R-LA) and Tom Udall (D-NM). In the upper chamber, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and several other Democrats are opposing the bipartisan bill largely due to the preemption provision. If both chambers approve significantly different legislation then they will have to hold conference negotiations to craft a compromise bill that lawmakers could approve and send to President Obama for his signature.