Changes coming for main US chemicals law

The year 2026 will be a big one for the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the major US law that covers the manufacture, import, and use of chemicals that may cause harm to humans and the environment. Congress gave TSCA a big overhaul in 2016; 10 years later, parts of it are up for renewal. Industry says it’s time for another significant makeover, but environmental advocates have doubts.One important provision of TSCA that will expire on Sept. 30 is the one allowing the EPA to collect fees from chemical manufacturers and importers. This fee authority helps cover the law’s implementation costs, such as testing and performing risk evaluations.Changes to the TSCA fee structure are generally done via rulemaking by the EPA, says Maria Doa, senior director of chemicals policy at the Environmental Defense Fund. “Fees can be renewed through a simple process that wouldn’t require reopening the statute at all,” she tells C&EN by email.But some chemical industry members and lawyers point to the fee structure renewal as a chance to make broader changes to TSCA. Telly Lovelace, director of issue communications at the American Chemistry Council (ACC) says that Congress needs to address “structural issues in the program that have become increasingly evident since implementation began.”The “structural issues” include the new chemicals review process, how the EPA prioritizes which chemicals to review, and transparency regarding its decision-making process on chemicals. Reforms in these areas “would help TSCA function as Congress intended, to protect public health and the environment while