toxic substances control act of 1976 toxic substances control act of 1976 the toxic substances control act (tsca) is a united states law, passed by the 94th united states congress in 1976 and administered by the united states environmental protection agency (epa), that regulates chemicals not regulated by other u.s. federal statutes, including chemicals already in commerce and the introduction of new chemicals. when the tsca was put into place, all existing chemicals were considered to be safe for use and subsequently grandfathered in. its three main objectives are to assess and regulate new commercial chemicals before they enter the market, to regulate chemicals already existing in 1976 that posed an "unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment", as for example pcbs, lead, mercury and radon, and to regulate these chemicals' distribution and use. toxic substances control actlong titlean act to regulate commerce and protect human health and the environment by requiring testing and necessary use restrictions on certain chemical substances, and for other purposes.acronyms (colloquial)tscaenacted bythe 94th united states congresseffectiveoctober 11, 1976citationspublic law94-469statutes at large90 stat. 2003codificationtitles amended15 u.s.c.: commerce and tradeu.s.c. sections created15 u.s.c. ch. 53, subch. i §§ 2601–2629legislative historyintroduced in the senate as s. 3149 by sen. john v. tunney (d–ca) on march 16, 1976committee consideration by senate commerce, house commercepassed the senate on march 26, 1976 (60-13)passed the house of representatives on august 23, 1976 (319-45, in lieu of h.r. 14032)reported by the joint conference committee on august 23, 1976; agreed to by the house of representatives on september 28, 1976 (360-35) and by the senate on september 28, 1976 (73-6)signed into law by president gerald ford on october 11, 1976major amendmentsp.l. 99-519 (1986); p.l. 100-551 (1988); p.l. 101-637 (1990); p.l. 102-550 (1992); no child left behind act of 2002;frank r. lautenberg chemical safety for the 21st century act, pub. l. 114–182 (text) (pdf) (2016) contrary to what the name implies, tsca does not separate chemicals into categories of toxic and non-toxic. rather it prohibits the manufacture or importation of chemicals that are not on the tsca inventory or subject to one of many exemptions. chemicals listed on the tsca inventory are referred to as "existing chemicals", while chemicals not listed are referred to as new chemicals. the tsca defines the term "chemical substance" as "any organic or inorganic substance of a particular molecular identity, including any combination of these substances occurring in whole or in part as a result of a chemical reaction or occurring in nature, and any element or uncombined radical" although tsca excludes chemicals regulated by other federal statutes from the definition of a chemical substance. generally, manufacturers must submit premanufacturing notification to epa prior to manufacturing or importing new chemicals for commerce. exceptions include foods, food additives, drugs, cosmetics or devices regulated under the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act, pesticides regulated by the federal insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide act, tobacco and tobacco products regulated by the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives, substances used only in small quantities for research and development under section 5(h)(3), and radioactive materials and wastes regulated by the nuclear regulatory commission. epa reviews new chemical notifications and if it finds an "unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment," it may regulate the substance from limiting uses or production volume to outright banning it. in 2016, the frank r. lautenberg chemical safety for the 21st century act was the first major overhaul in many years. overview the toxic substances control act of 1976 mandated the epa to protect the public from "unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment" by regulating the manufacture, processing, distribution, use, sale, and disposal of chemicals. this act does not address pollution, which is regulated through the clean air act, clean water act and the resource conservation and recovery act. instead, like fifra (the federal insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide act), tsca regulates commercial products. the act gave the epa the authority to gather information on and require manufacturers (and importers) to test products, required the epa to create a listing of existing chemicals and the industry to notify epa of new chemicals being produced, and gave the epa the ability to regulate chemical production and use. for example, epa banned the use of methylene chloride in consumer paint and coating removal products. the types of chemicals regulated by the act fall into two broad categories: existing and new. the distinction is made because the act regulates the two categories of chemicals in different ways. existing chemicals include any chemical currently listed on the tsca inventory under tsca section 8(b). new chemicals are defined as "any chemical substance which is not included in the chemical substance list compiled and published under section 8(b)." this list included all chemical substances manufactured or imported into the united states prior to december 1979, which covered 99% of the epa's mandate in the bill, including some 8,800 chemicals imported or produced at quantities above 10,000 pounds. sections labeling pcb-containing transformers epa flyer on lead-based paint disclosure the tsca is found in united states law at title 15 of the united states code, chapter 53, and administered by epa. title of the tsca, "control of toxic substances," is the original substance of the 1976 act, establishes the core program, including regulation of polychlorinated biphenyl (pcb) products and bans certain activities with respect to elemental mercury. title ii, "asbestos hazard emergency response," authorizes the epa to set standards for asbestos abatement in schools, and requires asbestos contractors to be trained and certified, enacted in 1986 under pl 99-519 and amended in 1990 under pl 101-637. title iii, "indoor radon abatement," requires the epa to publish a guide about radon health risks and to perform studies of radon levels in schools and federal buildings, enacted in 1988 under pl 100-551. title iv, "lead exposure reduction" requires the epa to identify sources of lead contamination in the environment to regulate amounts of lead allowed in products, including paint and toys, and to establish state programs that monitor and reduce lead exposures, enacted in 1992 under pl 102-550. u.s. regulations implementing the tsca are in 40 cfr part 195 for radon, and in 40 cfr parts 700 through 766 for other matters. under 15 usc 2605(e) the tsca specifically regulates pcbs. subsection (2)(a) provides that after january 1, 1978, "no person may manufacture, process or distribute in commerce or use any pcb in any manner other than in a totally enclosed manner." it also authorizes the epa to regulate pcbs disposal. acting under the tsca and other laws, the epa has set limits for pcb contamination of the environment. it has engaged in protracted negotiations with the u.s. general electric company and other firms for remediation of sites contaminated with pcbs such as the upper hudson river. history the tsca was passed by the united states congress and signed into law by president gerald ford on october 11, 1976 after years of negotiation between factions of the government and chemical producers. it was first introduced to congress in 1971, but it was opposed by industry and environmental groups, leading to the five-year stalemate. tsca authorized the epa to regulate new and existing chemicals. tsca was in response to congress’ growing concerns about the unreasonable risks that chemicals pose to human health and the environment. tsca limits the manufacture, processing, commercial distribution, use, and disposal of chemical substances including pcbs, asbestos, radon and lead-based paint. the 1971 council on environmental quality report in a 1971 report, the council on environmental quality (ceq) urged the federal government to regulate toxic substances in the u.s. ceq explained that existing regulation was not sufficient enough to protect human health and the environment. for example, the existing law only took effect after the damages were done and did nothing to prevent future damage. as john r. quarles jr., the epa deputy administrator, later explained during congressional testimony in 1975, "while some authority exists to control the production of certain categories of toxic substances, such as pesticides, drugs, and food additives, most existing federal authorities are designed to prevent harmful exposure only after the substances have been introduced into production." in order to adequately regulate what chemicals should enter the environment, ceq recommended that the government create a more comprehensive chemical policy to identify and control the chemicals that are manufactured, produced, and used in the u.s economy. specifically, ceq recommended that tsca strengthen government oversight by requiring the following measures: first, manufacturers should notify officials when they use or produce new chemicals, or plan to sell a significant volume of old chemicals. second, producers should test their chemicals and report data to officials on the quantities, uses, physical and biological properties, and any other information is necessary for assessing hazardous materials. lastly, with this information, the government should disclose any information about the health effects caused by dangerous chemicals to the public. congress’ response to ceq and the drafting of tsca congress agreed with ceq that additional authority was required to test chemicals to determine their effect, and responded to ceq's recommendation by proposing many house and senate bills between 1972 and 1973. policy makers were also aware that the cancer mortality rate had increased and recognized that the cause of the increase was related to the rise of industrial chemicals in consumer products and the environment. as a result of these concerns, congress concluded the risk of chemical exposure to the public were serious enough to warrant swift legislative action. three key assumptions informed congress' approach to drafting a chemicals control policy. first, in order to limit the risks that chemicals pose to human health and the environment, it would be important to be proactive in understanding toxic substances and use preventive measures. second, toxic risk should be approached in a "holistic rather than fragmented" manner. third, it was important to collect as much information as possible about the toxicity of chemicals and the risks associated with them. although there was much support for policy to address public health risks from chemical exposure, the law was stalled at the last minute because of disagreement over the proper scope of chemical screening prior to commercial production. however, a series of environmental disasters, such as the kepone catastrophe at hopewell, virginia, and the pollution of the hudson river "and other waterways by pcbs, the threat of stratospheric ozone depletion from chlorofluorocarbon (cfc) emissions, and contamination of agricultural products by polybrominated biphenyls (pbbs) in the state of michigan" provided a clearer picture of the costs of weak regulation over toxic substances. subsequently, the legislation passed in 1976. congress designed tsca to empower epa to collect more information on chemicals and their potential dangerous effect on human health and the environment. as a result, tsca's jurisdictional scope is extremely broad. congress's definition of chemical substances includes "any organic or inorganic substance of a particular molecular identity," and "any combination of such substances occurring in whole or in part as a result of a chemical reaction or occurring in nature" as well as "any element or uncombined radical." these chemicals are found in children's products (e.g., toys) cleaning products, furniture, electronics, building materials, and car interiors. the law attempts to oversee the manufacture (including import), processing, distribution, use and or disposal of such chemical substances. prior to the enactment of the frank r. lautenberg chemical safety for the 21st century act, tsca directed the epa to use the least burdensome method to reduce chemical risk to reasonable levels while taking into consideration the benefits provided by the chemical product or process. implementation there have been many challenges in the implementation of tsca. first, according to david markell, professor of law at florida state university, tsca and preexisting regulations have "an ―after-the-fact focus" that fails to protect individuals before toxic substances are released in products and is media focused without addressing how to control pollution within communities. second, tsca implementation is difficult because of the number of chemicals in the us market and high costs associated with fully assessing the toxic impacts of so many chemicals on human health and the environment. 62,000 chemicals on the market at the time were listed on the original tsca inventory of chemical substances. tsca "grandfathered" these 62,000 chemicals, allowing these substances to remain on the