The following content is sponsored by the American Chemistry Council and is written by its president and CEO, Chris Jahn.
American manufacturers plan in years. Washington too often operates from one deadline to the next. When those deadlines affect the chemical safety program that all manufacturers depend on, uncertainty reaches well beyond Capitol Hill.
Congress has an important task before December 11: reauthorize the industry-paid user fees that help support implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, for the long term. By doing this, Congress would be taking real action to help ensure chemical safety, while promoting innovation, growing U.S. manufacturing, and strengthening American competitiveness.
Most Americans will never need to know the details of TSCA. But they use products impacted by it every day, products made possible by chemistry. Materials used in semiconductors, vehicles, medical equipment, and construction all connect chemical manufacturing to the broader economy. A dependable chemical management system matters to every business along those supply chains.
TSCA is the nation’s primary chemical management law. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses TSCA to review chemicals and carry out chemical safety responsibilities. Companies pay user fees that help support EPA’s TSCA work. Congress must renew the authority behind those fees so EPA can count on that source of funding.
The distinction matters. TSCA itself is not expiring. What Congress must renew is EPA’s authority to collect industry-paid user fees that help support implementation of the law. Reauthorizing that authority will help ensure the agency can continue carrying out its chemical safety responsibilities.
American Chemistry Council President and CEO Chris Jahn (Photo courtesy of the American Chemistry Council)
The original fee authorization provided a ten-year runway. Congress should now reauthorize that authority to deliver long term certainty. A shorter extension would leave manufacturers and EPA facing another funding deadline instead of providing the predictability needed for long-term planning. Manufacturers plan in years; the program they depend on needs support that lasts beyond the next budget cycle.
As president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, I represent companies that work within this system and pay these user fees. Our interest is straightforward: a chemical management program that protects human health and the environment while giving manufacturers the certainty to invest, innovate, and compete in the United States.
Manufacturers need to make decisions about research, equipment, production, and hiring. Those decisions require confidence that the systems supporting chemical safety will continue to function as intended. Uncertainty does not help a company plan its next investment or a supplier prepare for its next order.
Consider a manufacturer developing new materials for a customer. Research is only the beginning. The manufacturer must plan how to bring that material or substance into commerce, serve its customers and meet its obligations under TSCA. It needs a functioning review system, not another layer of uncertainty about how that system will be supported.
Providing certainty in TSCA funding is not a substitute for accountability. Manufacturers and the public should expect sound science, transparent decisions, and responsible implementation. Reauthorizing TSCA user fee authority does not mean every challenge has been solved. There are other important aspects of TSCA implementation that could be vastly improved. Those issues deserve attention, but they do not change the responsibility Congress has today.
Congress should complete TSCA user fee reauthorization for the long term before December 11 and preserve this support for America’s chemical safety program. There is no benefit in adding avoidable uncertainty when lawmakers should be focused on strengthening American manufacturing and competitiveness.
If chemical safety, American manufacturing, or innovation matters to your business or community, make your voice heard. Ask your U.S. senators and representative to reauthorize TSCA user fees before the December 11 deadline.
American success relies on American chemistry. An industry this essential to American manufacturing and competitiveness is too important to overlook.
Chris Jahn is president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), which represents America’s chemical manufacturers and chemistry innovators.
