Senate Committee Approves Gina McCarthy Nomination for EPA Administrator

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved Gina McCarthy's nomination to be the next EPA Administrator. After Republicans boycotted an attempted committee vote last week, eight Republicans showed up today. All eight voted against McCarthy, while all 10 Democrats voted for her. Even Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg left his sick-bed to make the vote.

McCarthy's nomination now moves to the full Senate where she is expected to be confirmed despite Republican gamesmanship. Republican Senator David Vitter has indicated he will vote for her confirmation. The one remaining political game-playing is by Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri who says he will maintain a hold on her nomination until EPA sets a schedule for release of an environmental impact statement for a site in Missouri. Of course, EPA can't release the EIS until they have an Administrator to sign it. The Administrator-nominee that Blunt is holding up.

McCarthy is the current EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation. Under her watch the EPA has issued significant air pollution regulations, which is the main reason why Republicans are holding up her nomination.

Lautenberg Steps Down as Chair of Toxic Chemicals Subcommittee

Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, long a champion of efforts to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), will no longer chair the Superfund, Toxics, and Environmental Health Subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Lautenberg, of course, has introduced several versions of a Safe Chemicals Act over previous Congresses.

Replacing Lautenberg as chair will be Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico. Barbara Boxer of California chairs the full EPW Committee. David Vitter of Louisiana had already replaced Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma as ranking minority member of the committee. The main reason given for the change to Udall on the toxics subcommittee is that Lautenberg has taken up the chair for the Financial Services subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee and simply will not have time. Lautenberg is up for reelection in 2014, though at 90 years old it seems unlikely he will run.

Meanwhile, Lautenberg expects to continue his push for TSCA reform during the current Congress, and with Vitter apparently working with industry to craft a counter-bill, it is possible that we'll see some sort of TSCA reform bill at least reach debate.

Senator Lautenberg Calls for Senate Vote on Safe Chemicals Act

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is calling for a vote in the full Senate on his Safe Chemicals Act. Originally introduced April 14, 2011, the bill was passed out of the Environment and Public Works Committee last week. The bill is "designed to protect Americans from dangerous toxic chemicals that are found in everyday consumer products." Lautenberg now wants the bill to get a vote in the Senate.

A 174-page Amendment that documents all of the changes to the original bill (S.847) was released by the Committee. The committee also issued a short summary highlighting the key changes. These changes comprehensively alter the bill from its original "NGO-friendly" form to its now very "Industry-friendly" form. Still, Lautenberg has not been able to get any Republican to join the 25 Democratic co-sponsors of the bill. Lautenberg called on his fellow Senators to put the bill to a vote,  "either for or against." He noted that "families deserve to know" what Senators from both sides of the aisle "are thinking as we go through this process."





After languishing for nearly one and half years after its introduction, the bill took on new emphasis following an investigative reporting series by the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune reported that there had been collusion between the chemical industry and the tobacco industry to overstate the effectiveness of flame retardants and understate the health risks. A rather contentious hearing was held the day before the Committee vote, during which Senator Boxer went so far as to suggest one of the witnesses should "take a course in ethics."

It is clear that Lautenberg does not expect the bill to pass a full Senate vote since it would need to reach 60 votes to invoke cloture just to bring it to the floor for a real vote. With only 53 Democrats and Independents possibly voting for the bill and all 47 Republicans likely voting against it no matter what changes are made in debate, the bill is essentially dead on arrival. But he does feel that after 7 years of introducing bills and making substantive changes that make the bill more industry-friendly, the public should know what each Senator believes about protecting human health and the environment.

Senate to Hold TSCA Safe Chemicals Act Hearing This Week

Maybe the idea of TSCA reform isn't quite dead for this Congress.  A hearing will be held on Thursday, November 17, 2011 in the US Senate to examine the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011, a bill introduced early in the year by Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg.  The hearing, to be chaired by Lautenberg and supported by ranking Republican member James Inhofe, includes both the full and subcommittees of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee (EPW).

The hearing follows on a series of five stakeholder meetings held between EPW staff and both industry and environmental advocacy groups.  It is the first sign in quite a while of potential movement in the seemingly futile attempt to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  The lack of movement is despite support for TSCA reform by both industry and advocacy groups.

Scheduled to provide testimony at the hearing are:

Mr. Ted Sturdevant
Director, Department of Ecology
State of Washington

Ms. Charlotte Brody Director of Chemicals, Public Health and Green Chemistry BlueGreen Alliance

Mr. Cal Dooley President and CEO American Chemistry Council

Mr. Robert Matthews McKenna Long & Aldridge

Dr. Richard Denison, Ph.D. Senior Scientist Environmental Defense Fund

More information on the hearing can be found on the EPW web site.