WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), today issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed ban on most uses methylene chloride. , a hazardous chemical known to pose a serious threat to human health.
“Today, the EPA took a major step forward in meeting its obligations under the Toxic Substances Control Act by proposing restrictions on the use of methylene chloride, a chemical associated with serious health risks,” said Sen. Card Per. “This science-based proposal represents exactly the kind of common-sense protection that Congress provided almost seven years ago with the passage of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act for the 21st Century. Safety is paramount and I am committed to ensuring that the Agency Environmental Protection Agency resources needed to continue to study chemicals that pose the greatest risk to human health.”
The EPA’s proposed risk management rules call for a rapid reduction in the production, processing and distribution of methylene chloride for all consumer uses and most industrial and commercial uses, most of which will be fully implemented within 15 months. EPA’s analysis has shown that for most of the methylene chloride uses that the EPA proposes to ban, cost and performance alternatives to methylene chloride products are generally available.
Permanent link: https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2023/4/carper-statement-on-epa-proposal-to-limit-use-of-methylen-chloride