Udall, Growing Coalition of Supporters Call on Senate to Bring Up and Pass Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act

Support continues to build for the comprehensive, bipartisan bill to protect Americans from dangerous chemicals

WASHINGTON - Today, in a letter to Senate leadership, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and 13 of his Democratic colleagues urged Senate leaders to begin debate as soon as possible on their comprehensive chemical safety reform proposal, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. The letter comes as support continues to build among a diverse group of stakeholders and as two more senators cosponsored the bipartisan legislation to reform the nation's broken chemical safety laws, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA). Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) bring the total number of cosponsors to 46 senators representing 30 states.

"Stakeholders ranging from environmentalists to labor unions to good government advocates have urged the Senate to consider our comprehensive chemical safety reform bill," Udall said. "With 46 cosponsors and support from organizations representing millions of Americans, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act is ready to be considered and passed by the full Senate. New Mexicans and millions of Americans have no protection from dangerous chemicals today because TSCA is badly broken -- they need comprehensive reform and they can't afford to wait."

Joining Udall on the letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Harry Reid were Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

"The failure of TSCA has been heartbreakingly demonstrated over the years as it has failed to protect the public from exposure to dangerous or untested chemicals. However, over the past year, we've been encouraged by the steady progress that's been made to craft a bipartisan proposal to overhaul TSCA so that it can finally accomplish the goal that Congress originally intended: protecting public health and the environment," the senators wrote. "We believe that the best path to accomplishing the development of a final proposal that can achieve broad support in both Houses is to debate and amend the reported bill from the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and then reconcile the Senate proposal with the House proposal."

Support for the bill is broad and deep, and the list of stakeholders endorsing the Senate's comprehensive approach continues to grow. This week, a coalition of national organizations -- representing millions of Americans -- joined Udall and his colleagues in urging swift passage of the Lautenberg bill. The Humane Society of the United States and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers joined the Environmental Defense Fund, the March of Dimes, the National Wildlife Federation, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and others in endorsing the bill.

Calls to take up the Senate bill are also coming from former Senate leaders Trent Lott and Byron Dorgan, who now serve as fellows at the Bipartisan Policy Center, which advocates for bipartisan solutions to key issues facing the nation.

Quotes from supporters and organizations follow:

"With hundreds of toxic chemicals in everyday use, and thousand more untested, we can't afford to wait. It's time to pass bipartisan reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act," reads a support document by the Environmental Defense Fund, the March of Dimes, the National Wildlife Federation and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S. 697), sponsored by Senators Tom Udall and David Vitter, is bipartisan legislation to update this ineffective law, and it is ready to move to the Senate floor."

"On behalf of the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), we are writing to encourage you bring S. 697, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, to the Senate floor for consideration," former Senate leaders and Bipartisan Policy Center fellows Trent Lott and Byron Dorgan wrote in a letter to McConnell and Reid. "This bipartisan effort will strengthen one of our nation's important environmental statutes that has not been updated in 40 years."

"When it comes to human and environmental health, our current animal testing-based approach is fundamentally flawed, and we are in position to do a radically better job. Since the original TSCA was put into force in 1976, EPA has asked for safety data on only 200 of the tens of thousands of chemicals to which we are exposed, and has regulated only a handful of those," said Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, and Michael Markarian, President of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, adding that the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act "incorporates 21st-century science into its testing and risk-assessment framework and marks a dramatic advance for the nation in animal protection values."

"S. 697 will amend and strengthen Title I of TSCA in critical areas. It has been developed through ongoing bipartisan engagement since its initial introduction in 2013," said Lonnie Stephenson, International President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. "Clearly, TSCA is not working as Congress intended. Fixing it presents an opportunity for cooperation benefiting the American people and economy. The proposed legislation will strengthen TSCA by providing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with greater authority to protect public and worker health as well as the environment."

The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act would overhaul the outdated Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 and finally ensure the American people are protected from chemicals sold in everyday products and used in manufacturing. Text of the legislation, information about support and more are available HERE . Key provisions in the Senate's comprehensive bill would address all of the major ways the current TSCA law fails -- by providing funding to ensure the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the resources to test and regulate chemicals, a clear focus on chemicals that pose a risk to the environment and public health, a mandate to review the safety of all new and existing chemicals, authority directing the EPA to test chemicals, assurance that companies can no longer hide information from the public, and clear rules for government regulation to protect the public.