But is one bill better than the other? Industry, environmental, and public health organizations seem to think so - both bills have the support of various organizations and interest groups. The Udall-Vitter bill is backed by the chemical industry, who claim that the bill is a great compromise between environmental and industry interests, and gives them what they most want: a federal regulatory process that is the same in all of the states, helping to prevent compliance issues (Alpert March 10 2015). The Environmental Defense Fund also backs the Udall-Vitter bill (Grossman 2015). The Boxer-Markey bill has the support of many more environmental and public health groups, such as the Environmental Working Group, the Breast Cancer Fund, Center for Environmental Health, and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, who believe that the Boxer-Markey bill is “a clear win for public health and the environment” (Grossman 2015).
Certainly both bills are a step towards fixing the broken and ineffective Toxic Substances Control Act, but whether either will actually pass is yet to be seen. Both bills have their merits and downsides, and one of the leading merits of the Udall-Vitter bill, which the Boxer-Markey bill lacks, is bipartisan support (Alpert March 10 2015). Will compromise be the path to reform?
Works Cited
1. Alpert, Bruce. "Sens. David Vitter and Tom Udall Reach Bipartisan Agreement on New Chemical Safety Bill." Times- Picayune, Greater New Orleans Area (NOLA). March 10, 2015. Accessed March 21, 2015. http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/03/sens_david_vitter_and_tom_udal.html.
2. Alpert, Bruce. "Sen. David Vitter's Chemical safety bill has new competition." Times-Picayune, Greater New Orleans Area (NOLA). March 12, 2015. Accessed March 22 2015. http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/03/sen_david_vitters_chemical_saf.html
3. Amarelo, Monica. "EWG Welcomes Boxer-Markey Bill To Fix Badly Broken Chemical Safety Law." Environmental Working Group. March 12, 2015. Accessed March 22, 2015. http://www.ewg.org/release/ewg-welcomes-boxer-markey-bill-fix-badly-broken-chemical-safety-law.
4. Grossman, Elizabeth. "Will the US Ever Pass a New Chemical Safety Law?" The Guardian. March 12, 2015. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/12/chemicals-bills-us-senate-law-toxic-substances-act.
5. Pearson, Sam. "CHEMICALS: Lautenberg Legacy to Play Key Role in Top Industry Reform Push." CHEMICALS: Lautenberg Legacy to Play Key Role in Top Industry Reform Push. March 10, 2015. Accessed March 23, 2015. http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060014742.
6. Wheeler, Lydia. "Boxer Introduces Her Own Chemical Reform Legislation." The Hill. March 12, 2015. Accessed March 22, 2015. http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/235504-boxer-introduces-her-own-chemical-reform-legislation.