McConnell: Chemical reform could get a vote in the fall

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that an overhaul of federal chemical safety laws could come up for a vote when lawmakers return from their summer recess. 

A Senate panel passed a bipartisan update of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in April, and McConnell said in June that the bill could hit the floor this summer. But lawmakers never considered it before they left town on Wednesday for a five-week recess. 

{mosads}At a Thursday press conference, McConnell plugged “an incredibly productive first six months” for the Republican-controlled Senate. He said he’s still considering a legislative schedule for this fall. 

“The TSCA legislation is another example of something important that enjoys bipartisan support,” McConnell said. “I’m going to continue to look for things that make a difference for this country, that can clear the Senate, a body that requires 60 votes to do most things.”

The TSCA overhaul, a bipartisan bill from Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.), would increase penalties for chemical violations and direct the Environmental Protection Agency to review new and existing chemicals based on safety and public health grounds. 

The bill has more than 50 co-sponsors, though it has not won the backing of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee. She has said the Senate should call up the House-passed TSCA bill instead. 

If lawmakers reach a deal on chemical safety reform, it would be the first rewrite of the law since the 1970s.  

Last month, Vitter and Udall pushed leadership to bring up the bill before the end of the summer, but debate on the Senate floor focused on highway funding, Planned Parenthood and a cybersecurity bill instead.