The Illinois environmental-protection advocates say the first update in decades to the Toxic Substances Control Act will limit state safeguards. While the new rules expand the EPA’s ability to work through a backlog of more than 60,000 untested chemicals, environmentalists are upset the agency will only test 20 at a time.
Some Illinois environmentalists describe the new federal rules on toxic substances as one step forward and two steps back. The new rules could limit the state’s own protections.
Illinois has passed laws that protect families from toxic chemicals in consumer products. Those laws would be undermined by the new rules, if they’re made law by the president.