Senate Committee Hearing on TSCA Reform Wednesday July 31 2013

The Senate Environment and Public Work Committee, led by Senator Barbara Boxer, is holding a hearing on TSCA Reform Wednesday, July 31, 2013. Starting at 9:30 am EDT, the hearing will be held live in the 406 Dirksen Senate Building hearing room. A live webcast can be viewed when the hearing begins. The purpose of the hearing: “Strengthening Public Health Protections by Addressing Toxic Chemical Threats.” Mainly it is a mechanism for EPW Chair Boxer to address her concerns related to the bipartisan Safe Chemicals Improvement Act bill introduced by the late Senator Frank Lautenberg and Senator David Vitter. The bipartisan bill came as a surprise only a month after Lautenberg had reintroduced his Safe Chemicals Act bill. Boxer called the hearing in an effort to ensure that industry had not unduly influenced the ailing Lautenberg and gotten a death-bed commitment for an industry-friendly bill that is dramatically different than Lautenberg's own bill. Other concerns to be addressed with be the preemption provisions, which the state of California (and other states) are concerned will block any state action on toxic chemicals even if EPA does not take sufficient action to protect human health and the public. A long list of witnesses have been identified: Panel 1 Mr. Michael A. Troncoso Senior Counsel Office of the Attorney General, California Mr. H. Michael Dorsey Chief, Homeland Security and Emergency Response West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Mr. Ken Zarker Manager, Pollution Prevention & Regulatory Assistance Section Washington State Department of Ecology Panel 2 Mr. Daniel Rosenberg Senior Attorney Natural Resource Defense Council Mr. Thomas McGarity Professor of Law University of Texas at Austin Ms. Linda Fisher Vice President of Safety, Health and Environment and Chief Sustainability Officer DuPont Mr. Stephen A. Owens of Counsel, Squire Sanders, LLP Ms. Linda Reinstein Executive Director and Cofounder Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization Ms. Robin Greenwald of Counsel Weitz & Luzxenberg Mr. Mark N. Duvall Principal Beveridge & Diamond, PC Mr. Ken Cook President and Co-founder Environmental Working Group Panel 3 Ms. Nancy Buermeyer Senior Policy Strategist Breast Cancer Fund Ms. Susan Vickers, RSM Vice President of Community Health Dignity Health Ms. Mauren F. Gorsen, Esq. Partner Alston + Bird, LLP Dr. Jonathan Borak, MD, DABT Clinical Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health Clinical Professor of Medicine Yale School of Medicine Mr. Cecil Corbin-Mark Deputy Director/Director of Policy Initiatives We Act for Environmental Justice Ms. Dorothy Felix President Mossville Environmental Action Now Mr. Andrew R. Hackman Vice President of Government Affairs Toy Industry Association, Inc. Ms. Ansje Miller Eastern States Director Center for Environmental Health For more information and the link to the live feed, go to the EPW hearing page.			3