Udall: Comprehensive Bipartisan Chemical Safety Reform now Supported by Over Half the Senate

Baldwin, Burr, Tillis join as cosponsors of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act

WASHINGTON ­- Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) announced the addition of three new bipartisan cosponsors for comprehensive legislation to overhaul the nation's broken chemical safety law, bringing the total number of senators supporting the bill to 52, representing 33 states.

This week, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and GOP Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis of North Carolina signed on as cosponsors – joining Sens. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who signed on last week -- meaning that over half the Senate now supports the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.

Udall introduced the Lautenberg Act with U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to overhaul the broken and outdated 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act for the first time in almost 40 years. Previous efforts to reform the law have died for lack of bipartisan support, but an unprecedented number of senators -- from liberals to conservatives, as well as stakeholders ranging from environmental groups and health advocates, to labor unions and sportsmen -- now back comprehensive reform and are urging Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the bill to the floor before the Senate begins its August in-state work period. A similar bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this summer.

The Lautenberg bill is also cosponsored by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ga.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Robert Casey (D-Penn.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Daniel Coats (R-Ind.), Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), and Steve Daines (R-Mont.).

"I'm overwhelmed by the strong support for comprehensive chemical safety reform, which keeps growing every day. We have a unique opportunity to pass major environmental legislation overhauling a law that has been broken for 40 years," Udall said. "Over half the senators and millions of Americans are voicing their support for comprehensive chemical safety laws because they know we need a cop on the beat to protect our children from dangerous chemicals. Most states - including New Mexico - have virtually no ability to test and keep our communities safe. We need a national solution. I urge Leader McConnell to bring this bill to the floor for a vote."

"Reform is long overdue, and I am proud to support this bipartisan bill," Baldwin said. "It's important that we advance protections for public health and the environment, while also ensuring that it happens at a pace that works for our manufacturing economy. This bipartisan legislation does just that and is a meaningful reform."

"Time has long passed to reform this badly outdated law," Burr said. "With the passage of this bill all stakeholders, including consumers and manufactures, can have confidence in the safety of chemicals used in everyday life. Instead of a patchwork of regulations that bring uncertainty to the market place, this bipartisan bill will bring certainty, spur innovation, and promote job creation across the United States, while upholding our responsibility to keep our families safe."

"I'm pleased to join the bipartisan effort to modernize chemical safety laws," Tillis said. "The Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act will help keep American families safe and provide much-needed clarity and predictability for states and job creators."

Current law allows chemicals to be used in consumer products without any evidence of safety. And, since a 1991 court case, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has lost its power to regulate or remove hazardous chemicals from the marketplace – not even asbestos, arsenic, styrene, formaldehyde, BPA or other dangerous substances that have been linked to birth defects and cancer. Some states are trying to fill in the gaps, but most states – like New Mexico – can't afford to do any testing.

The Lautenberg Act would provide a national solution, requiring the EPA to act on all new chemicals entering the marketplace, providing the resources and authority to finally begin regulating unrestricted chemicals that are already on the market – including asbestos -- and ensuring that chemical companies would no longer be able to hide indefinitely the composition of their products from the public. The law would require the EPA to consider the impact on the most vulnerable populations – pregnant women, infants, the elderly and chemical workers – when regulating chemicals. It would also grandfather in existing state laws and respect states' rights to pass their own chemical safety laws.

Named for the late U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), a longtime champion for a strong chemical safety law, and supported by his widow Bonnie, the Lautenberg Act passed the Environment and Public Works Committee in April on a strong bipartisan vote of 15-5.