STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1225
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.C.R. No. 6
Honorable Donna Mercado Kim
President of the Senate
Twenty-Seventh State Legislature
Regular Session of 2013
State of Hawaii
Madam:
Your Committees on Energy and Environment and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 6 entitled:
"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ENCOURAGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO ENACT FEDERAL LEGISLATION TO MODERNIZE THE TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT OF 1976 TO STRENGTHEN CHEMICALS MANAGEMENT THROUGH POLICY REFORMS,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to encourage the United States Congress to enact federal legislation to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 and to strengthen chemicals management through policy reforms.
Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from one individual. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the American Chemistry Council.
Your Committees find that early-life exposure to toxic chemicals has been linked to chronic disease later in life. A growing body of peer-reviewed scientific evidence links exposure to toxic chemicals to many diseases and health conditions that are rising in incidence, including childhood cancers, prostate cancer, breast cancer, learning and developmental disabilities, infertility, and obesity. Your Committees further find that the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 was intended to authorize the United States Environmental Protection Agency to protect public health and the environment from toxic chemicals but has been rendered ineffective and obsolete due to legal and procedural hurdles that prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from taking quick and effective regulatory action to protect the public against well-known chemical threats.
Your Committees also find that the National Conference of State Legislatures unanimously adopted a resolution in July 2009 that articulated principles for reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 and called on Congress to act to update the law. Your Committees also note that in August 2010 the Environmental Council of States, the national association of state environmental agency directors, unanimously adopted a resolution entitled "Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act," which endorsed specific policy reforms. The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 is the only major federal environmental statute that has never been updated or reauthorized. As a result, your Committees encourage the United States Congress to enact federal legislation to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 and to strengthen chemicals management through policy reforms.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy and Environment and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 6 and recommend its adoption.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Energy and Environment and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,
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____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair |
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____________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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