REAUTHORIZATION OF THE TOXIC 

 SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT 



WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 1994 



U.S. Senate, 

 Committee on Environment and Public Works, 

 Subcommittee on Toxic Substances, Research and 



Development, 

 Washington, DC. 

 The committee met, pursuant to recess, at 9:30 a.m. in room 406, 

 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Harry Reid, [chairman of the 

 subcommittee] presiding. 

 Present: Senator Reid. 



OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. HARRY REID, U.S. SENATOR 

 FROM THE STATE OF NEVADA 



Senator Reid. The subcommittee will come to order. 



This is the second hearing this subcommittee has held on issues 

 surrounding the reauthorization of the Toxic Substances Control 

 Act. At our first hearing in May, we heard several general ideas 

 for improving the toxics program under TSCA. Today, we will con- 

 tinue that discussion and will hear more about proposals for 

 changes to the statute, especially concerning those chemicals al- 

 ready in commerce. 



Our May hearing laid a solid base upon which we can build. Sev- 

 eral common themes emerged: the need to establish clear priorities; 

 the role of pollution prevention; the importance of information; and 

 the right-to-know concept. Most importantly, I think, was a rec- 

 ognition of the responsibility that a chemical manufacturer should 

 bear for the chemicals he or she produces. 



Witnesses spoke of the manufacturers and processors responsibil- 

 ity to know the health and environmental effects of the chemical 

 substance and to see that the substance does not present an unrea- 

 sonable risk. Just how the statute should clarify and enforce this 

 responsibility is an important question, one I hope we will talk 

 about today. 



Our goal for TSCA should be to ensure that we have a systematic 

 approach for toxics. Instead of responding to the crisis of the mo- 

 ment — be it alar, PCBs, or chlorine — we should have in place a 

 day-to-day system to manage the risks posed by chemicals. 



We heard testimony that there are tens of. thousands of chemi- 

 cals in commerce. But even more troubling is the variety of uses 

 of these chemicals. These may number in the hundreds of thou- 

 sands. Sometimes there is a chemical that we can single out as 



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