	Introduction

In 1976, President Gerald Ford signed into law the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA; P.L. Since 2005, a number of bills have been introduced to revise the chemical evaluation process for determining whether regulatory controls are warranted and to address certain other related purposes. This report tracks the legislative status in the 114 th Congress of bills that would amend Title I of TSCA and includes a discussion of selected issues that have received more attention. This report does not present a comprehensive analysis of all provisions of relevant legislation, nor is this report intended to provide a detailed analysis of specific language and its legal or regulatory interpretation. On March 10, 2015, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21 st Century Act ( S. 697 ) was introduced and referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (Senate EPW). Two days later, the Alan Reinstein and Trevor Schaefer Toxic Chemical Protection Act ( S. 725 ) was introduced and also referred to Senate EPW. On April 28, 2015, Senate EPW marked up an amendment in the nature of a substitute for S. 697 , which was ordered to be reported out of the committee for Senate floor consideration on a 15-5 vote. On June 18, 2015, Senate EPW filed the report ( S.Rept. On April 7, 2015, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, announced a discussion draft that takes a more targeted approach to amending Title I of TSCA than either Senate bill. The discussion draft is called the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015 and hereinafter is referred to as the House discussion draft. The committee's report for the bill is H.Rept. On June 23, 2015, the House passed H.R. 2576 , as amended, under suspension of the rules on a 398-1 vote. Selected Issues for Congress

Among the various issues regarding the federal role in regulating chemical substances under Title I of TSCA, the following topic areas are among the more debated:
The prioritization of existing chemical substances for the evaluation of risks; The regulatory threshold criteria under which EPA would be authorized to restrict a chemical substance; The regulatory options available to EPA in restricting a chemical substance found to warrant regulation; The authority of EPA to require the development of new information regarding a chemical substance; The preemption of state laws concerning the regulation of chemicals; The disclosure and protection from disclosure of information submitted to EPA; and The resources that may be available for EPA to administer the act. 2576 , as passed by the House, in amending Title I of TSCA to address these key issues. Regulatory Threshold for Restricting a Chemical Substance

The current TSCA establishes as a standard for regulation of chemical substances that the chemical presents or will present "an unreasonable risk of injury to [human] health or the environment." In contrast to the Senate bills, H.R. With regard to the authority to collect fees under Section 26(b) of TSCA, all three bills would revise this authority to differing degrees. 114-176 .
Enacted in 1976, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is the primary federal law that governs the regulation of chemicals in commerce. TSCA authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine whether regulatory control of a chemical substance is necessary to provide protection against "unreasonable risks" to those who are potentially exposed or to the environment. For several years leading up to the 114th Congress, there have been various legislative proposals to amend Title I of TSCA to revise the chemical evaluation process and the criteria by which chemical substances would be regulated and to address certain other related purposes.
On June 23, 2015, the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015 (H.R. 2576) was passed by the House under suspension of the rules on a 398-1 vote. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce had previously reported the bill. The report is H.Rept. 114-176. On April 28, 2015, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (Senate EPW) ordered that the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S. 697) be reported for Senate floor consideration on a 15-5 vote. On June 18, 2015, the Senate EPW filed the report (S.Rept. 114-67). Another bill introduced in the Senate, the Alan Reinstein and Trevor Schaefer Toxic Chemical Protection Act (S. 725), has not been reported out of committee. The Senate bills present fairly broad approaches to revising the evaluation process of chemical substances to determine whether regulatory control is warranted and propose various other changes to the TSCA framework, while H.R. 2576 takes a more targeted approach in amending specific provisions of Title I of TSCA.
All three bills would address many key issues regarding the federal role in regulating chemical substances. This report discusses selected issues that have received considerable attention and provides a comparison of the current proposals' differing approaches to revise Title I of TSCA. This report does not present a comprehensive analysis of all provisions of relevant legislation, nor is this report intended to provide a detailed analysis of specific language and its legal or regulatory interpretation.
The following selected issues are described in more detail in the report and in the context of current TSCA and the three bills:
The prioritization of existing chemical substances for the evaluation of risks; The regulatory threshold criteria under which EPA would be authorized to restrict a chemical substance; The regulatory options available to EPA in restricting a chemical substance found to warrant regulation; The authority of EPA to require the development of new information regarding a chemical substance; The preemption of state laws concerning the regulation of chemicals; The disclosure and protection from disclosure of information submitted to EPA; and The resources that may be available for EPA to administer the act.
This report was updated to reflect legislative actions in Congress as of July 7, 2015. The report will be updated as necessary as the debate and consideration of legislation continues.