	Introduction

In 1976, President Ford signed into law the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify and regulate chemicals in U.S. commerce that present an "unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment" or an imminent hazard. Since 1976, Congress has added five other titles to TSCA to address specific chemical concerns. None of the additional titles made amendments to the core chemical evaluation and regulatory program under Title I and therefore are not discussed in this report. On June 22, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21 st Century Act ( P.L. 114-182 ), which amended TSCA. 114-182 expanded EPA authority to collect fees from chemical manufacturers and processors to partially defray the costs of conducting risk evaluations. The following sections of the report summarize the major authorities of TSCA and cover the following topics: 
1. the overall scope and applicability of authorities under TSCA; 2. the information gathering authorities; 3. the confidentiality and disclosure of information submitted to EPA under the act; 4. the framework for prioritizing chemicals for evaluation, evaluating risks, and regulating those chemicals that present unreasonable or imminent risks; 5. the applicability of the act to chemical imports; 6. the requirements for chemical export notification; 7. the process in filing citizen petitions and bringing citizen suits; 8. the enforcement of the act; 9. the federal and state roles under the act; and 10. the resources to administer the act. Even if EPA were to determine unreasonable risk, TSCA provides that authorities under other federal law supersede TSCA authorities to address unreasonable risks. Information that EPA obtains from chemical manufacturers and processors may contain material that, if disclosed, would harm commercial interests, so TSCA provides protection from disclosure of submitted information if the submitter can justify that the information meets certain criteria. For small manufacturers and processors, EPA may promulgate recordkeeping and reporting requirements only for chemicals for which the agency has already required the development of new information or has previously regulated under the act. The types of information required in a PMN or SNUN are relevant to assessing risk (e.g., chemical identity, uses, volumes produced, byproducts, health and environmental effects, exposure, and disposal methods). Development of New Information Regarding Chemicals

Section 4(a) authorizes EPA to request chemical manufacturers or processors to develop new information necessary to evaluate the risks of a chemical if available information on the chemical is insufficient for the agency to evaluate risks associated with the chemical and the agency suspects unreasonable risks associated with the chemical that may warrant regulation. For specific chemical identities determined to warrant confidential treatment, P.L. TSCA establishes a framework for EPA to prioritize which chemicals to evaluate for risks and directs EPA to take expedited actions for specific chemicals:
polychlorinated biphenyls; certain persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemical substances; imminently hazardous chemicals; chemicals that present significant risks; and new chemical substances and significant new uses of chemical substances. Risk Evaluation Process

The original enactment of TSCA in 1976 directed EPA to regulate the lifecycle of chemicals that present unreasonable risks but did not specify how the agency would evaluate risks of chemicals. 114-182 amended TSCA Section 6 to require EPA to promulgate a rule that establishes the manner in which the agency is to conduct risk evaluations for purposes of determining whether a chemical presents unreasonable risks. Under Section 6, as amended by P.L. EPA may extend the 180-day deadline by an additional 90 days for good cause. Regulation of New Chemical Substances and Significant New Uses

If EPA finds that a new chemical substance subject to a PMN or a significant new use of a chemical substance subject to a SNUN presents an unreasonable risk, Section 5(f) directs the agency to either propose a rule to apply one or more of the specified regulatory options to the extent necessary to protect against such risk or issue an order to prohibit or limit manufacture, processing, or distribution. Federal and State Relationship

To avoid potential conflict between federal requirements under TSCA and state requirements or restrictions on chemicals, TSCA provides circumstances in which a federal requirement for a specific chemical under the act would preempt state requirements that apply to the same chemical unless exempted or waived. Congress set forth provisions for chemical-specific preemption of state requirements in TSCA as originally enacted and refined those preemption provisions in P.L. Exceptions to preemption may apply, or EPA may grant waivers by rule. Section 18 allows the EPA Administrator to exempt from preemption a state requirement under certain circumstances. Although the authorization of appropriations to carry out TSCA expired after FY1983, Congress has continued to fund the statute's activities through annual discretionary appropriations.
In 1976, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA; P.L. 94-469) was enacted to direct the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to obtain information relevant to evaluating the lifecycle (i.e., manufacture, importation, processing, distribution, use, and disposal) of industrial and commercial chemicals for "unreasonable risks" and, if warranted, to regulate such chemicals. Concerns that EPA lacked sufficient authority to take such actions, among other concerns, led to the enactment of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (P.L. 114-182), which amended TSCA, in 2016. Still, Congress requires that implementation of the amended TSCA balance two objectives—the protection of public health and the environment from unreasonable risks and the regulation of chemicals in a manner that does not "impede unduly or create unnecessary economic barriers to technological innovation."
TSCA as amended requires EPA to gather existing information (e.g., production volumes, health and safety studies) regarding potential chemical risks from chemical manufacturers, processors, and distributors. Manufacturers of new chemicals must notify EPA prior to the chemical being commercialized. Similar notification requirements apply to chemicals proposed for uses determined by EPA to be significant new uses.
If EPA has inadequate information on a chemical to determine whether it presents unreasonable risks, TSCA authorizes the agency to require the development of new information necessary for the evaluation of risks. For information submitted under TSCA, the act establishes a framework to protect from disclosure information that warrants confidential treatment and to ensure that certain types of information are disclosed.
To identify which chemicals may warrant regulation, TSCA requires EPA to systematically prioritize chemicals for risk evaluation and to regulate those chemicals that present unreasonable risks to ensure they no longer do so. If EPA finds that a chemical presents unreasonable risk, TSCA requires the agency to undertake rulemaking to regulate the chemical.
EPA must take regulatory action on specific chemicals that exhibit characteristics known to present greater risks in an expedited manner. For instance, EPA may promulgate requirements to address risks presented by certain persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals without conducting a risk evaluation. Additionally, TSCA authorizes EPA to commence a civil action against imminently hazardous chemicals and expedite review of chemicals that present significant risk of serious or widespread harm.
For new chemicals and chemicals proposed for a significant new use determined to warrant evaluation by EPA, the agency must make a determination regarding unreasonable risk within 90 days of the required notification unless extended for good cause.
Under TSCA, requirements that apply to chemical manufacture apply in the same way to chemical importation. TSCA establishes procedures for handling imports of chemicals that do not comply with requirements under the act. Chemicals marked for export only are subject to recordkeeping and reporting requirements unless EPA has previously taken regulatory action to require the development of new information or establish a requirement to protect against unreasonable risk.
TSCA includes provisions to allow citizens to challenge EPA implementation of the act. Additionally, TSCA includes provisions for enforcement, including inspection and administrative subpoena authority, establishment of civil and criminal penalties for violations, and citizen suits to allow any person to enforce the act.
TSCA provides a federal role for the evaluation and restriction of chemicals, but, unlike most other federal environmental statutes, does not provide for delegation to, or implementation by, states. However, states may evaluate and regulate chemicals under their own authorities. TSCA provides limited explicit preemption of state requirements, although long-standing state requirements are generally preserved. If a state requirement does not meet one of the exceptions from preemption, waivers from preemption may be available under certain circumstances.
Although authorization of appropriations to carry out TSCA expired in 1983, Congress has continued to fund TSCA activities through annual discretionary appropriations. TSCA authorizes EPA to collect fees from chemical manufacturers and processors to partially defray costs that the agency may incur from evaluating information submissions, conducting risk evaluations and developing regulations.
The original 1976 act, which was amended by P.L. 114-182, is referred to as Title I. Since 1976, Congress has added five other titles to TSCA to address specific chemical concerns. The five additional titles of TSCA are not discussed in this report.