Chemical safety law that gives EPA more power passes Congress

Wednesday, June 8: The Senate Tuesday approved a major overhaul of Toxic Substances Control Act, sending it the President Obama, who is expected to quickly sign it. The normally divided Congress got together this week to take on a major overhaul of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, giving the Environmental Protection Agency broad new authority to regulate chemicals in millions of products American use every day. “When Americans go to the grocery store and hardware store, they assume products they buy have been tested and are safe; they aren’t,” Sen. Tom Udall, D-NM, one of the bill’s chief authors, said in a press call this week.  “For the first time in 40 years we will have a working chemical safety law.”