WE, your Memorialists, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Maine now assembled in the Second Regular Session, most respectfully present and petition the President of the United States and the members of the United States Congress as follows:

WHEREAS,  a child and a developing fetus are uniquely vulnerable to the health threats of toxic chemicals; and

WHEREAS,   a growing body of peer-reviewed scientific evidence links exposure to toxic chemicals with many diseases and health problems, including prostate cancer, breast cancer, learning and developmental disabilities, infertility and obesity; and

WHEREAS,  the effects of toxic chemicals place an undue burden on states, including increasing health care costs, environmental damage and demands for state regulation; and

WHEREAS,  businesses that lack information on the effects of chemicals in their supply chain are at a disadvantage; and

WHEREAS,  the governing federal law, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, was intended to protect public health from toxic chemicals; and

WHEREAS,  at the time when the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 was passed, there were about 62,000 chemicals in commerce that were grandfathered without the testing currently required for potential health and safety hazards or any restrictions on known chemical hazards; and

WHEREAS,  in the 35 years since the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 was passed, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has required testing to be conducted on only about 200 of those chemicals for health hazards and has restricted the use of only 5 chemicals; and

WHEREAS,  the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 has been widely recognized as ineffective and obsolete due to procedural hurdles that prevent the United States Environmental Protection Agency from taking quick and effective action to protect the public against well-known chemical threats; and

WHEREAS,  in 2008 the Maine Legislature enacted, and in 2011 amended, the Kid Safe Products Act with broad bipartisan support as a comprehensive safer chemical policy reform; and

WHEREAS,  state policy leadership cannot substitute for congressional action to modernize the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, a reform all parties agree is urgently needed; and

WHEREAS,  federal legislation to reform the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011, is under consideration in the 112th Congress; now, therefore, be it