The Frank R Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act was signed into law on June 22, 2016 by President Obama. The Act modernizes the dated U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for the first time in 40 years. The EPA is challenged with an aggressive schedule, especially in the first year.

The U.S. EPA has setup a resource page for information on the Lautenberg Act, including a overview of the Act:

The new law, which received bipartisan support in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, includes much needed improvements such as:

• Mandatory requirement for EPA to evaluate existing chemicals with clear and enforceable deadlines;
• New risk-based safety standard;
• Increased public transparency for chemical information; and
• Consistent source of funding for EPA to carry out the responsibilities under the new law.

On June 30, 2016, the EPA posted an implementation plan for the first year of operation under the revised TSCA. Short term implementation focuses on specific objectives that are explicitly specified in the Act. These relate to:

• Premanufacture notices (PMNs) and Significant new Use Notices (SNUNs)
• Review of Confidential Business Information; rules and names for confidential chemicals
• Completion of chemical risk assessments previously underway including addressing risks from trichloroethylene (TCE), methylene chloride (MC) and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP)
• Develop of processes for initial risk evaluation, prioritization, risk evaluation, fees, and chemical inventory
• Creation of a science advisory committee on chemicals
• Scope of initial risk evaluation, annual plan for risk evaluations; identify first 10 chemicals for assessment.
• Mercury inventory, export ban, and reporting rule
• Small business definitions
• Alternative testing methods strategy