	Introduction

This report presents a side-by-side comparison of H.R. 2576 , the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015, as passed by the House on June 23, 2015, and S.Amdt. 2932 , the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21 st Century Act, as passed by the Senate on December 17, 2015, as a substitute amendment to H.R. The Senate amendment, but not the House bill, would also amend the Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008 and add a provision to the Public Health Service Act regarding potential cancer clusters. The first section of this report provides a brief background on Title I of TSCA. The second section describes differences between the House bill and the Senate amendment and also presents background on selected issues that the legislation addresses. The final section includes Table 1 , which presents a side-by-side comparison of the provisions of existing law, the House bill, and the Senate amendment. Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)

In 1976, President Ford signed into law the Toxic Substances Control Act, which authorizes 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." 2576 and the Senate Substitute Amendment

The House bill would amend several provisions in TSCA, including:
the authority for EPA to require testing of chemicals under TSCA Section 4; the process by which EPA would evaluate risks of chemicals and regulate those found to present unreasonable risks under TSCA Section 6; the procedures and standards under TSCA Section 14 for confidential treatment of certain information submitted to EPA under TSCA; TSCA's relationship to state laws regulating chemicals under TSCA Section 18; and the authority for EPA to collect fees under TSCA Section 26. The following sections provide a brief discussion of seven issues that have received attention in the debate to amend Title I of TSCA. These issues include:
prioritization of existing chemical substances for the evaluation of risks; regulatory threshold criteria under which EPA would be authorized to restrict a chemical; regulatory options available to EPA in restricting a chemical found to warrant regulation; EPA's authority to require the development of new information regarding a chemical; preemption of state laws concerning the regulation of chemicals; disclosure and protection from disclosure of information submitted to EPA; and resources that may be available for EPA to administer the act. Some environment and public health groups have argued that it is unlikely another chemical could be regulated under TSCA if EPA was not able to regulate asbestos under the statute. Both the House bill and the Senate amendment would remove from TSCA the requirement that EPA promulgate the "least burdensome requirement" in order to restrict a chemical demonstrated by the agency to present unreasonable risks. Confidentiality and Disclosures of Information

TSCA requires chemical manufacturers, processors, and distributors to submit certain information to EPA regarding their chemicals. The table includes a discussion of each provision of the House bill and the Senate amendment, although it does not provide comprehensive analysis of the potential effects of particular provisions in the House bill or the Senate amendment.
This report compares H.R. 2576, the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015, as passed by the House on June 23, 2015, and the Senate's substitute amendment (S.Amdt. 2932) to H.R. 2576, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, as passed by the Senate on December 17, 2015. The Senate amendment is based, in part, on S. 697, as reported by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on April 28, 2015.
The House bill and the Senate amendment would amend Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Enacted in 1976, TSCA is the primary federal law that authorizes the regulation of commercial chemicals throughout their lifecycle from manufacture to disposal. TSCA authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine whether regulation of a chemical is necessary to provide protection against "unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment." The Senate amendment, but not the House bill, would also amend the Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008 and add a provision to the Public Health Service Act regarding potential cancer clusters.
Over the 39-year history of TSCA, EPA, regulated entities, environmental and public health groups and others have observed significant challenges in implementing the statute. For example, concerns have been raised on whether the threshold to regulate a chemical under TSCA is too difficult for EPA to demonstrate and whether the agency is unnecessarily constrained by the requirement that it impose the "least burdensome requirement" to restrict a chemical. In addition, EPA has argued that limits in requesting test information have constrained its ability to assess risks of certain chemicals. Many have argued that these concerns have diminished public confidence in the "safety" of chemicals in commerce. Additionally, regulated entities and right-to-know advocates have raised concerns about the appropriate balance between disclosures of chemical information and confidentiality of business information submitted to EPA under TSCA. Regulated entities have also raised concerns that state and local governments are adopting different requirements with respect to particular chemicals and compliance may be difficult with this growing "patchwork" of requirements. They argue that there should be uniform regulation under TSCA nationally. However, certain states and others have expressed concerns regarding the role of preemption in limiting states' ability to regulate chemicals. Since 2005, these concerns and others led to the introduction of legislation that would amend TSCA in each Congress.
The first section of the report provides a brief background on TSCA. The second section provides a brief comparison between the House bill and the Senate amendment and also provides a background discussion of seven issues:
Prioritization of chemicals for the evaluation of risks; Regulatory threshold for restricting a chemical; Regulatory options for restricting a chemical; Requirements for the development of test information; Preemption of state requirements; Confidentiality and disclosures of information; and Resources to administer TSCA.
Finally, Table 1 presents a side-by-side comparison of the provisions of existing law, the House bill, and the Senate amendment. This report does not provide a comprehensive analysis of the potential effect of particular provisions. Ultimately, the outcome, if either the House bill or the Senate amendment were enacted, depends on implementation.