Analysis of POPs Treaty Implementing Provisions in Senate and House TSCA Reform Bills (Wiser & Ditz) (May 2010)

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The Lautenberg bill and Rush-Waxman discussion draft each contain provisions intended to allow the United States to ratify and implement the Stockholm Convention and LRTAP POPs Protocol. Both the bill and discussion draft provide the public with reasonable opportunities for notice and comment when chemicals are considered for addition to the treaties. Both the bill and draft would allow continued state action on POPs in many, or even most, situations. Additionally, both close the existing TSCA section 12 loophole that allows U.S. exports of domestically banned or restricted chemicals. The Lautenberg bill bans all of the On April 15, 2010, Senator Frank Lautenberg introduced the “Safe Chemicals Act of 2010,” a bill to reform U.S. chemicals policy. Congressmen Bobby Rush and Henry Waxman introduced on the same day a discussion draft entitled the “Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010.‟ Both of these proposals would amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the principal federal law for regulating tens of thousands of chemicals used in industrial, commercial, and consumer products.

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