Sec. 3. Findings, policy, and goal
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Section 2 of the Toxic Substances Control Act ( 15 U.S.C. 2601 ) is amended— in the heading, by striking and inserting Intent ; and Goal by striking subsections
(a)through
(c)and inserting the following: Congress finds that— each year human beings and the environment are exposed to a large number of chemical substances; the chemical industry, an important part of the United States economy, provides valuable products that are used in diverse manufacturing industries and other commercial, institutional, and consumer applications; more than 3 decades after the enactment of this Act, people and the environment in the United States are still exposed to thousands of chemicals whose safety has not been adequately reviewed and may harm health and the environment; the incidence of some diseases and disorders linked to chemical substance exposures is on the rise; biomonitoring of chemical substances in humans reveals that people in the United States carry hundreds of hazardous chemicals in their bodies; the concentrations of certain chemical substances that persist and accumulate are increasing in the environment and in human bodies and are found across the world, including in the remote Arctic in which Native Americans face increasing contamination of traditional foods; differences in metabolism and physiology at certain stages of development can make infants and children more vulnerable than adults to the effects of chemical exposure, especially exposure that occurs in utero, during infancy, and during other critical periods of development; manufacturers and processors of chemicals should supply sufficient health and environmental information before distributing products in commerce; the Administrator must have and exercise the authority to develop sufficient information to assess chemical safety, and to act effectively when the Administrator obtains information that indicates there are risks of harmful exposure to chemical substances; there is significant global trade in the chemical sector and many of the companies that conduct business in the United States must also comply with chemical safety regulatory programs in other countries, and the data that is generated to comply with those other regulatory programs may be useful in understanding hazards and exposures of chemical substances presented in the United States; and a revised policy on the safety of chemical substances will assist in renewing the manufacturing sector of the United States, create new and safer jobs, spur innovations in green chemistry, restore confidence domestically and internationally in the safety of products of the United States, and ensure that products of the United States remain competitive in the global market. It is the policy of the United States— to protect the health of children, workers, consumers, and the public, and to protect the environment from harmful exposures to chemical substances; to promote the use of safer alternatives and other actions that reduce the use of and exposure to hazardous chemical substances and reward innovation toward safer chemicals, processes, and products; to require that chemicals in commerce meet a risk-based safety standard that protects vulnerable and affected populations and the environment; to require companies to provide sufficient health and environmental information for the chemical substances that the companies manufacture, process, or import as a condition of allowing those companies to distribute chemical substances in commerce; to improve the quality of information on chemical safety and use; to guarantee the right of the public and workers to know about the hazards and uses of chemical substances that the public and workers may be exposed to by maximizing public access to information on chemical safety and use; and to strengthen cooperation between and among the Federal Government and State, municipal, tribal, and foreign governments. It is the goal of the United States to address the harmful exposure of vulnerable or affected populations to chemical substances caused by the distribution of chemical substances in commerce by— reviewing all chemical substances for safety and identifying the highest priority chemical substances for expedited review; determining whether chemical substances in commerce meet the safety standard under this title; applying appropriate restrictions to the use of a chemical substance, where warranted; and encouraging the replacement of harmful chemicals and processes with safer alternatives. .
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Sec. 3
Findings, policy, and goal
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