President Obama signed the Frank R Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act into law on June 22, 2016, the first major overhaul of federal chemicals policy since the Toxic Substances Control Act was enacted in 1976. The new law gives EPA important new powers to require chemical testing and to regulate chemicals based on health and environmental factors. It also includes explicit mandates to protect vulnerable populations. But will this new law truly safeguard present and future generations from toxic exposures? How will the law be implemented and what are the implications? On this call, our presenters had a lively discussion of the strengths and limitations of the new bill. We discussed what we can do as citizens to ensure that the law is implemented in the best way possible in order to protect public health.
Featured Speakers
- Ansje Miller, Eastern States director of the Center for Environmental Health
- Mark Mitchell, MD, co-chair of the Environmental Health Task Force of the National Medical Association
- Eve Gartner, staff attorney with Earthjustice
This call was hosted by the CHE-Alaska Partnership. It lasted for one hour and was recorded for the call archive.