For the first time in 40 years and after years of negotiation, on June 22, the President signed the compromise legislation updating the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. The bipartisan bill, H.R. 2576, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, had support from Democrats and Republicans, as well as the Chamber of Commerce, chemical manufacturers and the Environmental Defense Fund.

Public health advocates and industry have long differed over the proper way to update TSCA. H.R. 2576, which gained both bipartisan and bicameral support, requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to begin evaluating roughly 22,000 chemicals that are currently on the market but were not included in the 1976 law. The law also requires the EPA to take only the health and environmental effects of a chemical into account when devising new rules, not the financial effect of those regulations.

Takeaway: H.R. 2576, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, is a rare compromise between environmentalists and the chemical industry, as well as between Democrats and Republicans.