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JOINT RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO REFORM THE FEDERAL TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT OF 1976
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
RESOLVED: That We, your Memorialists, respectfully urge and request that the President of the United States and the United States Congress modernize the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 in a manner that ensures the safety of chemicals in everyday products and that uses the best scientific data to protect the health of vulnerable groups, such as children, while promoting business innovation and making timely decisions on chemicals of highest concern; and be it further
RESOLVED: That suitable copies of this resolution, duly authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to the Honorable Barack H. Obama, President of the United States, to the President of the United States Senate and to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and to each Member of the Maine Congressional Delegation.