Tuesday, July 30, 2013

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.
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