Sharyle Patton
Director of the Commonweal Biomonitoring Resource Center
On Wednesday, July 25th, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will vote on an improved version of the Safe Chemicals Act, an act that reforms the current set of federal regulations, the Toxic Substances Control Act, which governs toxic chemicals production and use. TSCA entered into force in 1976, and as recent articles in the Chicago Tribune point out, is in need of being brought up to date to reflect current scientific knowledge about the capacity of toxic chemicals to compromise the health and safety of humans and ecosystems. This new version is the result of many months of discussions among key stakeholders and represents a major step forward in balancing stakeholder interests and concerns. Richard Denison from the Environmental Defense Fund provides an overview of the Safe Chemicals Act in his recent blog post, A pivotal moment for TSCA reform.
Our Health and Environment Blog 
The Environment and Public Works Committee in the US Senate voted today to advance the Safe Chemicals Act to the Senate Floor. This is the first Congressional vote on reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act since it was passed in 1976. For more information, please see these sites:
Webcast of the hearing (the hearing starts 15 minutes into the webcast file): http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.LiveStream&Hearing_id=bafa1647-802a-23ad-4762-4a2bc6d0edc9
Toxic Chemicals: U.S. Senate Defies Chemical Corporations: Passes Safe Chemicals Act Out of Committee from the Louisville Charter for Safer Chemicals, http://www.louisvillecharter.org/SCAVote7.25.12.shtml