Bill Text: TX HCR89 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging Congress to enact federal legislation to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-30 - No action taken in committee [HCR89 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HCR89-Introduced.html
| By: Smith of Harris | H.C.R. No. 89 | |
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| WHEREAS, American consumers deserve to have confidence that | ||
| the products they buy, when used for their intended purposes, are | ||
| safe; and | ||
| WHEREAS, a federal chemical management program should place | ||
| protecting the public health - including children's health -- as | ||
| its highest priority, and should include strict government | ||
| oversight; and | ||
| WHEREAS, the federal chemical management program should | ||
| preserve America's role as the world's leading innovator and | ||
| employer in the manufacture, processing, distribution in commerce | ||
| and use of chemicals; and | ||
| WHEREAS, the current chemical management law, the Toxic | ||
| Substance Control Act (TSCA) was signed into law in 1976, and is now | ||
| nearly 35 years old; and | ||
| WHEREAS, since the enactment of the law, our ability to | ||
| understand the impact chemicals have on the human body and the | ||
| environment has advanced significantly; and | ||
| WHEREAS, those advancements in science and technology need to | ||
| be integrated into the federal chemical management program; and | ||
| WHEREAS, momentum for modernization of the federal chemical | ||
| regulatory system is growing in Congress; and | ||
| WHEREAS, a robust federal chemical management system will | ||
| obviate the need for state governments to adopt different - at times | ||
| conflicting - state regulatory programs that have the potential for | ||
| negative impacts on the national economy. | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 82nd Texas Legislature encourages the | ||
| 112th Congress of the United States to enact federal legislation to | ||
| modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. Amendments to | ||
| TSCA should strengthen chemicals management to: | ||
| (a) Ensure that chemicals are safe for their intended use; | ||
| (b) Require EPA to systematically prioritize chemicals for | ||
| the purpose of assessing their safe use; | ||
| (c) Require that EPA act expeditiously and efficiently in | ||
| assessing the safe use of chemicals; | ||
| (d) Require companies that manufacture, import, process, | ||
| distribute, or use chemicals to provide EPA with relevant | ||
| information to the extent necessary for EPA to make safe use | ||
| determinations; | ||
| (e) Assure that the potential risks to children from | ||
| exposures to chemicals are considered in the assessment of safe | ||
| use; | ||
| (f) Empower EPA to impose a range of risk management | ||
| controls to ensure that chemicals are safe for their intended use; | ||
| (g) Encourage companies and EPA to work together to enhance | ||
| public access to chemical health and safety information; | ||
| (h) Require that EPA rely on scientifically valid data and | ||
| information, regardless of its source, including data and | ||
| information reflecting modern advances in science and technology; | ||
| (i) Enable EPA to have the staff, resources, and regulatory | ||
| tools it needs to ensure the safety of chemicals; and | ||
| (j) Ensure that TSCA remains a vehicle to promote and | ||
| encourage technological innovation, and the maintenance of a | ||
| globally competitive industry in the United States; and be it | ||
| further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to all members of the Texas delegation to | ||
| Congress. | ||
