The Toxic Substances Control Act: A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements
Publication Date: January 2007
Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
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This report summarizes the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the major regulatory programs dealing with chemical production and distribution in U.S. commerce. The text is excerpted, with minor modifications, from the corresponding chapter of CRS Report RL30798, Environmental Laws: Summaries of Statutes Administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, coordinated by Susan Fletcher, which summarizes more than a dozen environmental statutes.
The President's Council on Environmental Quality proposed comprehensive federal legislation in 1971 to identify and control potentially dangerous chemicals in U.S. commerce that were not adequately regulated under other environmental statutes. President Ford signed TSCA into law on October 11, 1976. Subsequently, three titles have been added to address concerns about specific toxic substances -- asbestos in 1986 (Title II, P.L. 99-519), radon in 1988 (Title III, P.L. 100-551), and lead in 1992 (Title IV, P.L. 102-550).
TSCA authorizes EPA to screen existing and new chemicals in U.S. commerce in order to identify potentially dangerous products or uses that should be subject to federal control. The Act authorizes EPA to gather and disseminate information about production, use, and possible adverse effects to human health and the environment of existing chemicals, and to issue "test rules" that require manufacturers and processors of potentially dangerous chemicals to conduct and report the results of scientific studies to fill information gaps. Because there were more than 55,000 chemicals in commerce at the time EPA was to begin developing test rules, Congress established an interagency committee to help EPA determine which of these existing chemicals should be considered first and to coordinate testing needs and efforts among government agencies. For chemicals new to U.S. commerce, TSCA requires pre-market screening and regulatory tracking of new chemical products.
If EPA identifies unreasonable risks associated with existing or new chemicals, TSCA requires the Agency to initiate rulemaking to reduce risks to a reasonable level. EPA may regulate the manufacture, importation, processing, distribution, use, and/or disposal of chemicals. TSCA provides a variety of regulatory tools to EPA, ranging in severity from a total ban on production, import, and use to a requirement that a product must bear a warning label at the point of sale. However, TSCA directs EPA to use the least burdensome option that can reduce risk to a level that is reasonable, given the benefits provided by the chemical product or process.
Title I of the originally enacted statute establishes the core program and directs EPA to control risks from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Title II directs EPA to set standards for asbestos mitigation in schools and requires asbestos contractors to be trained and certified. Title III directs EPA to provide technical assistance to states that choose to support radon monitoring and control. Title IV provides similar assistance with respect to abatement of lead-based paint hazards. This report will be updated if significant amendments to TSCA are enacted.