TSCA, Explained

About this episode

This episode breaks down the Toxic Substances Control Act and its implications for chemical regulation in the U.S.

The Toxic Substances Control Act is the cornerstone of chemical regulation in the United States — but for most of its existence, it was widely considered unenforceable. In this episode of People, Places, Planet's Explained series, host Sebastian Duque Rios is joined by Lynn Bergeson, Managing Partner of Bergeson & Campbell, and Bob Sussman, former senior EPA official and Principal at Sussman & Associates, to break down TSCA from the ground up. Together, they walk through the foundational building blocks of the law — what chemicals TSCA covers, how Sections 4, 5, and 6 govern testing, new chemical pre-market review, and existing chemical risk evaluation, and why the "unreasonable risk" standard at the heart of the statute proved so difficult to apply in practice. They also trace how the 1991 Corrosion Proof Fittings decision paralyzed EPA's regulatory authority for a generation, and what the 2016 Lautenberg Act fundamentally changed. Lynn and Bob are co-chairs of the TSCA Reform 10 Years Later conference, taking place June 10th at George Washington University — a free, hybrid event covering risk evaluation, risk management, new chemicals, and the legislative road ahead…

People in this episode

Host: Sebastian Duque Rios

Guests: Lynn Bergeson, Bob Sussman

Topics covered

• Toxic Substances Control Act
• chemical regulation
• EPA authority
• risk evaluation
• Lautenberg Act
• TSCA reform

Keywords

• TSCA
• chemical regulation
• EPA
• risk evaluation
• Lautenberg Act
• corrosion proof fittings
• chemical testing
• new chemicals
• risk management

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bergeson & Campbell, Sussman & Associates, EPA, George Washington University, ELI, Milken Institute School of Public Health

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