TSCA Revision in the U.S.: A Political Tug-of-War

According to Ecosen Environmental Technology, certain provisions of the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) are set to be reauthorized later this year. Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate have drafted bills proposing amendments to the Act. During a hearing held on March 4 by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), chemical and industrial experts stated that the Senate’s draft bill still contains ambiguities and would be difficult for the understaffed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement. “Regrettably, the EPA’s New Chemicals Program has strayed from Congress’s original statutory mandate,” said Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) in his opening statement. Speaking on behalf of EPW Committee Chair Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Cramer criticized the current pre-market review process for new chemicals as costly, cumbersome, and unnecessary. Democrats generally agree that some revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) are needed. “But opinions differ on how best to improve this law,” noted Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the EPW Committee’s senior Democrat. The Senate’s draft bill—the ‘Toxic Substances Control Act Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2026’—focuses primarily on reforming the EPA’s pre-market review process for new chemicals. Industry stakeholders have long complained about the slowness of this process. Both parties agree the EPA’s review must be accelerated; Republicans have drafted a TSCA amendment aimed at speeding up reviews of new chemicals. However, Democrats and environmental advocates argue the draft grants industry excessive control over chemical regulation and eliminates critical environmental safeguards. At a January hearing on the House version of the bill, Republicans and Democrats likewise agreed that new chemical reviews are too slow—but diverged sharply on how to fix the problem. TSCA is a cornerstone U.S. law governing the manufacture, importation, and use of chemicals posing potential risks to human health and the environment. Its current version was enacted in 2016; the fee authorization under TSCA expires on September 30, 2026. This provision allows the EPA to collect fees from chemical manufacturers and importers to cover implementation costs—including testing and risk assessments. At the hearing, Whitehouse pointed out that Congress could simply reauthorize these fees without making any other changes to TSCA. Yet industry groups and legislators are seizing this opportunity to push broader legal reforms. Expert testimony highlighted key issues: The Director of Chemistry at a law firm representing the Chemistry Council Inc. (CCI) stated that part of the delay in reviewing new chemicals stems from ambiguous statutory language. Under current TSCA, the EPA must restrict a chemical only if it determines the substance “will present an unreasonable risk.”

Tariff Surge + Stricter TSCA Enforcement: Dual Impact! In-Depth Breakdown of Regulatory Red Lines and Risk-Mitigation Pathways

1. What is the TSCA? The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is a pivotal U.S. regulation governing industrial chemicals. Enacted by Congress in 1976 and effective since 1977, TSCA is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Its overarching objective is to comprehensively assess the environmental, economic, and societal impacts of chemical substances and prevent “unreasonable risks” to human health and the environment. On June 7, 2016, the U.S. Senate passed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 2576), enacting major reforms to TSCA and significantly strengthening regulatory oversight—particularly for both new and existing chemical substances. 2. Scope of Products Regulated Under TSCA TSCA primarily regulates industrial chemical substances. Eight categories of chemical substances—tobacco products, nuclear materials, munitions, food, food additives, drugs, cosmetics, and pesticides—are excluded due to their specialized uses and instead fall under dedicated regulatory frameworks. For instance, food, food additives, drugs, and cosmetics are all regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) administered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 3. The TSCA Inventory The TSCA Inventory is a dynamic list containing approximately 85,000 chemical substances, divided into public and confidential sections. Substances listed on the Inventory are classified as “existing chemicals”; those not listed are considered “new chemicals.” 4. Regulation of Existing Chemical Substances TSCA imposes four primary compliance obligations for existing chemicals: a) Importers must self-certify whether proposed imports comply with TSCA requirements; b) Importers may submit exemption certifications for specific products; c) A Significant New Use Notice (SNUN) must be submitted to the EPA at least 90 days prior to manufacturing, importing, processing, or using a substance for a significant new use; d) Manufacturers or importers must report annual activity data—including production volume, facility locations, and exposure information—to the EPA every four years. 5. Regulation of New Chemical Substances Generally, new chemical substances require submission of a complete Pre-Manufacture Notice (PMN) to the EPA at least 90 days before commercial manufacture or import—unless exempted from reporting. Once a complete PMN is submitted and approved, the substance is added to the TSCA Inventory and becomes classified as an “existing chemical.”

SOCMA: Congress Has a Rare Opportunity to Strengthen American Manufacturing and Create Jobs Through TSCA Reform

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SOCMA urges Congress to reform the TSCA Section 5 program, citing survey data where 70% of manufacturers canceled projects due to regulatory delays. Improving review timelines aims to boost U.S. chemical manufacturing investment and support downstream industries like pharmaceuticals.

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SOCMA: Congress Has a Rare Opportunity to Strengthen American Manufacturing and Create Jobs Through TSCA Reform

SOCMA: Congress Has a Rare Opportunity to Strengthen American Manufacturing and Create Jobs Through TSCA Reform

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