WASHINGTON - Today, during a speech on the Senate floor on his bipartisan chemical safety reform bill, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, U.S. Senator Tom Udall urged Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the bill to a vote by the full Senate. Udall delivered the speech immediately following a press conference announcing 14 new cosponsors of the legislation , which makes the total number of senators now supporting the bill 36. Udall said the Senate needs to take advantage of growing momentum for the bipartisan proposal to overhaul our nation's broken Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, and give the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to keep American families safe from dangerous chemicals.
Below are Udall's remarks as prepared for delivery:
Americans trust that when they go to the grocery store or when they are in their own homes, that the products they reach for are safe. The current system fails that trust. It fails to provide confidence in our regulatory system, and it fails to provide confidence in our consumer products. We cannot let that failure continue.
I rise today to urge support for the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. It is the best chance we will have-possibly for many years-to protect our kids from dangerous chemicals.
The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976-or TSCA-is supposed to protect American families. It doesn't. There are over 84,000 known chemicals, and hundreds of new ones every year. And how many have been regulated by EPA? Less than a half dozen.
EPA can't even regulate asbestos-a known carcinogen-since losing a court battle in 1991. So, for decades, the risks are there. The dangers are there, but there is no cop on the beat.
Some states are trying to fill the gaps by regulating a few chemicals. But my home state of New Mexico-and the vast majority of others-have no ability to test chemicals. They have no department to write regulations. Without a working federal law, they have no protection.
Even California-which probably has the greatest capacity of all the states to test and regulate-in seven years since California passed a law to regulate chemicals, it has only begun the process on three.
We have an opportunity and an obligation to reform our broken chemical safety law. That is why I and others have worked so hard to find compromise. That is why I introduced the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.
I have been privileged to work with Senator Vitter on this bill. I thank him and our colleagues who have worked with us. This is a true bipartisan effort. We don't always agree, but we have one goal. Reform is overdue-40 years overdue.
Our esteemed former colleague, the late Senator Frank Lautenberg led the way-for many years-with great determination. His bipartisan effort with Senator Vitter to reform TSCA was the last major legislation he introduced.
Two years ago, the New York Times endorsed the Lautenberg-Vitter bill. The Times said-correctly-that previous efforts at reform had gone nowhere-and the bill "deserves to be passed because it would be a significant advance over the current law."
I was honored to take over as the lead Democrat on the bill. Since then, I have listened to concerns. I reached across the aisle. I brought everyone into the room-or at least tried to. And with Senator Vitter, we have improved the bill.
Working with three of our colleagues on the Environment and Public Works Committee-Senators Whitehouse, Merkley and Booker-we made more progress. I want to thank them and Senator Vitter for coming to the table and working with us.
I also want to thank our co-sponsors-over 30 now-from both sides of the aisle. The bill is even stronger now with more protections for consumers, and a stronger role for states to play in keeping their citizens safe.
So, I want to talk for a moment about how this bill moves us forward:
First, the manufacture of a new chemical cannot begin until EPA approves it. More than 700 new chemicals come into commerce each year. Our bill gives EPA the time it needs, and keeps these chemicals out of American homes in the meantime.
Second, current TSCA has no requirement for evaluating existing chemicals. None. Our bill does and includes deadlines-even more aggressive than the EPA itself said it was ready for.
Third, we require a stronger safety standard for all chemicals to be evaluated. No longer will EPA be required to choose the "least burdensome" regulation. Its criteria will be safety, science and public health-never cost or convenience.
Fourth, our bill requires-for the first time-that EPA protect our most vulnerable populations: pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and workers from chemicals in commerce or manufacturing.
Fifth, TSCA is silent on animal welfare and testing. The Lautenberg Act minimizes animal testing and develops a strategy to do so.
Finally, we limit confidential business information protection for industry, so business can't hide information from the public.
So, let's be clear. We have a choice. We can continue with a law that has failed. We can continue to leave the American people unprotected, or we can actually make a difference.
I believe the choice is obvious. Our bill will make Americans safer-not just Americans fortunate to live in states with protections-all Americans, no matter where they live.
For those Americans in states with existing safeguards-that won't change. Those safeguards will stay in place. Any regulations in place as of August of this year will remain. And there is a role for states to play to help with the thousands of chemicals that EPA won't be able to evaluate.
But the EPA has the largest staff on chemical safety of any country in the world. They should be able to put that staff to good use. To do otherwise is wasted opportunity and continued failure.
M/M President, this has not been an easy process, but it is a necessary one.
I believe it will result in a good bill. We welcome a healthy debate. We welcome constructive amendments. At the same time, we should not lose sight of the key goal-to actually pass a bill.
I believe we can do this, and Senator Lautenberg-who was a great environmental champion-he believed we could as well.
We have a historic opportunity to create a chemical law that works and provide American families with the protections they expect and deserve. Let's work together. Let's make that happen. Let's not wait another 40 years.
