The Society of Toxicology (SOT) Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Task Force held a Sunrise Session on Wednesday, March 26, 2014, to review the strategy and progress made relative to TSCA reform legislative initiatives on Capitol Hill. Since 2010, SOT’s TSCA Task Force has met both with key legislative aides and Members of Congress to discuss ways in which the Society might advise legislators on scientific issues fundamental to the effective implementation of a new statute.
TSCA Task Force Chair Daland Juberg provided an overview of the activities undertaken by this group over the past few years to provide technical advice to Members of Congress and their staffs who are revamping this 38‒year‒old major environmental statute that regulates the introduction of new or already existing chemicals in the US. As Dr. Juberg noted during this session, “The goal of this task force is to ensure that the science of toxicology and the application of risk assessment are considered in all discussions related to the TSCA reform initiatives.”
Specifically, the TSCA Task Force is committed to providing:
- Education and discussion on scientific topics that are directly related or tangential to legislation, and
- Insight on how transformations in toxicology and risk assessment may influence future chemical regulation such that legislative expectations and implementation are scientifically feasible.
“We have and will continue to achieve our goals through personal visits, training sessions, Congressional briefings, written responses to questions asked by SOT members and Members of Congress, and by providing expert testimony," said Dr. Juberg.
SOT’s Guiding Principles are that TSCA Legislation should ensure that:
- Language does not prescribe methods or techniques for generating information used in the risk assessment process.
- Legislation protects the authority of the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) to judge when and how to apply new techniques and methods of generating information for risk assessment within TSCA.
- Legislation applies to these concepts consistently throughout the proposed legislation.
The members of the TSCA Task Force are Daland Juberg (Chair), Susan Borghoff, Deborah Cory-Slechta, William Farland, Ronald Filler, George Gray, Michael Holsapple, Mark LaFraconi, James Lamb IV, Moiz Mumtaz, Ruthann Rudel, and Robert Skoglund.
For more information and to view the presentation delivered during this session, please visit the SOT Annual Meeting website.