Bill Text: OR SM2 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urging Congress to enact legislation to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Failed) 2013-07-08 - In committee upon adjournment. [SM2 Detail]

Download: Oregon-2013-SM2-Introduced.html

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     77th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2013 Regular Session

NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
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 LC 4041

                        Senate Memorial 2

Sponsored by Senators JOHNSON, HANSELL, BOQUIST; Senators BATES,
  HASS, KNOPP, MONNES ANDERSON, ROBLAN, STARR, THOMSEN

                             SUMMARY

The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.

  Urges Congress to enact legislation to modernize Toxic
Substances Control Act.

                         SENATE MEMORIAL
To the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United
  States of America, in Congress assembled:
  We, your memorialists, the Senate of the State of Oregon, in
legislative session assembled, respectfully represent as follows:
  Whereas the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et
seq.) was passed in 1976 and provides the United States
Environmental Protection Agency with the authority to regulate
reporting and recordkeeping requirements for, and safety testing
of, chemical substances and mixtures; and
  Whereas certain substances are generally excluded from
oversight under the Toxic Substances Control Act, including some
foods, drugs, cosmetics and pesticides; and
  Whereas current federal chemical policy has not kept up with
modern science or understanding of the health and environmental
effects and testing of toxic chemicals, which have improved
considerably since 1976; and
  Whereas since the enactment of the Toxic Substances Control
Act, increasing evidence linking toxic chemicals to adverse human
health effects has eroded the public's confidence in the safety
of consumer products containing toxic chemicals; and
  Whereas the inadequacies of the Toxic Substances Control Act
have caused the United States to fall behind its trading partners
in the quality of the nation's public health and environmental
standards, and these failures now threaten the competitiveness of
products manufactured in the United States in a world market that
increasingly demands safer chemicals and products; and
  Whereas in the absence of federal action, many states have
passed legislation to regulate individual chemicals and have
begun to develop comprehensive state chemical policies in order
to establish broad and permanent frameworks for systematically
prioritizing chemicals of concern, closing data gaps with regard
to the chemicals and restricting use of the chemicals; and
  Whereas the National Conference of State Legislatures has
proposed that the Toxic Substances Control Act should be updated
to reflect advances in science and technology and to better
evaluate and regulate chemicals; and
  Whereas appropriate modifications to federal law will help
enhance public confidence and the efforts of state governments;
and
  Whereas modernizing the Toxic Substances Control Act can help
ensure that we protect the nation's interest in a strong American
chemical industry and ensure that the United States produces
products that save lives, protect children, make the economy more
energy efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; now,
therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Oregon:
  (1) The Congress of the United States of America is
respectfully urged to enact federal legislation to reform and
modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et
seq.) to embody the following policy elements:
  (a) Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals should be
phased out of commerce, except when needed for use in critical
processes for which viable alternatives are not possible, and
exposure to other toxic chemicals that have been extensively
studied should be reduced to the maximum extent feasible.
  (b) Research into chemicals and chemical processes designed to
reduce or eliminate negative environmental impacts of chemicals
should be expanded and safer chemicals favored over those with
known health hazards.
  (c) Chemical manufacturers should bear the burden of proof of
safety of their products and should be required to provide, in a
manner accessible to the public, to workers at the chemical
manufacturing companies and to other businesses, full disclosure
of the health hazards associated with chemicals the manufacturers
produce, how the chemicals are used and the ways that workers and
the public could be exposed.
  (d) All chemicals should be assessed against a health standard
that protects the environment and all people, especially the most
vulnerable populations, including children, low-income families,
racial and ethnic minorities, workers and pregnant women.
  (e) The Environmental Protection Agency should adopt the
recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences for reforming
risk assessment, and biomonitoring by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention should be significantly expanded and used
by the agency to assess the effects of pollution on people.
  (f) Because state governments play a critical role in
environmental regulation, states' rights to regulate chemicals
should be preserved and resources should be provided for
implementation of chemical regulations at the state level.
  (g) The Environmental Protection Agency should continue to
provide appropriate contextual materials to affected communities
to accompany Toxics Release Inventory reports, ensuring that
emergency response agencies understand and are able to respond
safely to chemical releases and can protect those who live in the
vicinity of facilities required to file Toxics Release Inventory
reports.
  (h) The Environmental Protection Agency should continue working
to ensure that reported data are communicated to the public in an
understandable manner that includes a description of the risk of
release that specific chemicals pose to the public and to
emergency response teams, how materials and chemicals are managed
to control release and an assessment of the risks to public
health and welfare in the event of regulated or accidental
releases.
  (2) A copy of this memorial shall be sent to each member of the
Oregon Congressional Delegation.
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