NE Washington News

On January 22, 2025, Congressman Morgan Griffith, representing Virginia's 9th District and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, led a hearing titled "A Decade Later: Assessing the Legacy and Impact of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act." The hearing aimed to evaluate the challenges faced by various administrations in implementing this act.

Chairman Griffith remarked, “Each administration has encountered a number of challenges in implementing the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act,” emphasizing that "the Environment Subcommittee rightly explored these issues and underscored the need to revise the EPA regulatory structure for the uses of new and existing chemicals and for products containing those chemicals.”

Vice Chairman Dan Crenshaw from Texas highlighted the importance of chemicals in sustaining a strong economy. He stated, “I just want start off by noting how important chemicals are to a strong economy... The domestic chemical industry supports hundreds of thousands of high paying jobs that generates hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity.” Crenshaw criticized previous regulatory implementations under the Toxic Substances Control Act as impractical and burdensome.

Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks from Iowa expressed concerns over what she described as aggressive overregulation by the Biden administration. She provided an example related to ethylene oxide regulations, questioning if such measures considered scientific assessments or risk evaluations effectively.

Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak from North Dakota voiced her apprehension about regulatory changes leading to increased uncertainty. She argued that these changes could push manufacturing overseas, jeopardizing American jobs and supply chains while increasing costs for consumers.

The hearing served as a platform for discussing potential revisions needed in chemical safety regulations to balance economic growth with public safety.