HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 9

BY  ISENHART

A Concurrent Resolution urging the United States Congress to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.

   WHEREAS, children and developing fetuses are uniquely vulnerable to the health threats of toxic chemicals and early-life chemical exposures have been linked to chronic disease later in life; and
   WHEREAS, a growing body of peer-reviewed scientific evidence links exposure to toxic chemicals to many diseases and health conditions that are rising in incidence including childhood cancers, prostate cancer, breast cancer, learning and developmental disabilities, infertility, and obesity; and
   WHEREAS, the President’s Cancer Panel report released in May 2010 stated “the true burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated” and advised the President “to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation’s productivity, and devastate American lives”; and
   WHEREAS, workers in a range of industries are exposed to toxic chemicals which pose threats to their health, increasing worker absenteeism, workers’ compensation claims, and health care costs that burden the economy; and
   WHEREAS, a recent national poll found that 78 percent of likely American voters were seriously concerned about the threat to children’s health from exposure to toxic chemicals in day-to-day life; and
   WHEREAS, states bear an undue burden from toxic chemicals, including health care costs and environmental damages, disadvantaging businesses that lack information on chemicals in their supply chain and increasing demands for state regulation; and
   WHEREAS, the primary governing federal statute, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA), was intended to authorize the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect public health and the environment from toxic chemicals; and
   WHEREAS, when TSCA was passed about 62,000 chemicals in commerce were grandfathered in without any required testing for health and safety hazards or any restrictions on usage; and
   WHEREAS, in the 35 years since TSCA passed, the EPA has required chemical companies to test only about 200 of those chemicals for health hazards and has issued partial restrictions on only five chemicals; and
   WHEREAS, TSCA has been widely recognized as ineffective and obsolete due to legal and procedural hurdles that prevent the EPA from taking quick and effective regulatory action to protect the public against well-known chemical threats; and
   WHEREAS, in January 2009, the United States General Accounting Office added the EPA’s regulatory program for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals to its list of high-risk government programs that are not working as intended, finding that the EPA has been unable to complete assessments even of chemicals of highest concern; that the EPA requires additional authority to obtain health and human safety information from the chemical industry and to shift more of the burden to chemical companies to demonstrate the safety of their products; and that the TSCA does not provide sufficient chemical safety data for public use by consumers, businesses, and workers, and fails to create incentives to develop safer alternatives; and
   WHEREAS, the National Conference of State Legislatures unanimously adopted a resolution in July 2009 that articulated principles for TSCA reform and called on Congress to act to update the law; and
   WHEREAS, ten states have come together to launch the Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse to coordinate state chemical information management programs, and a coalition of 13 states issued guiding principles for TSCA reform; and
   WHEREAS, 71 state laws on chemical safety have been enacted and signed into law in 18 states with broad bipartisan support over the last eight years; and
   WHEREAS, state policy leadership on chemical management, although outstanding, cannot substitute for Congressional leadership to reform TSCA, a reform which all parties agree is urgently needed; and
   WHEREAS, TSCA is the only major federal environmental statute that has never been updated or reauthorized; and
   WHEREAS, legislation to substantially reform TSCA was introduced during the 109th Congress in 2005, the 110th Congress in 2008, and again in the 111th Congress in 2010; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE SENATE CONCURRING, That the Iowa General Assembly encourages the 112th Congress to enact federal legislation to modernize the TSCA to strengthen chemicals management through policy reforms; and

   BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the policy reforms should require chemical manufacturers to prove that all existing and new chemicals are not harmful to human health, and provide essential health and safety information on chemicals to inform the market, consumers, and general public; and
   BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the policy reforms should require immediate action to reduce or eliminate the worst chemicals, including persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals and other priority toxics to which there is already widespread exposure; and
   BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the policy reforms should preserve the authority of state and tribal governments to operate chemicals management programs that are more protective than the federal programs; and
   BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the policy reforms should establish health safety standards for chemicals that rely on the best available science to protect the most vulnerable among us, such as children and developing fetuses; and
   BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the policy reforms should reward innovation by fast-tracking approval of new, demonstratively safer chemicals, and invest in green chemistry research and workforce development to boost American business and spur jobs making safer alternatives; and
   BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the policy reforms should promote environmental justice by developing action plans to reduce disproportionate exposure to toxic chemicals in hot spot communities; and
   BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate shall forward copies of this resolution to all members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation.