The newest TSCA requirements are estimated to increase costs considerably for business and the EPA.

A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report estimated that a proposal to reform the TSCA by requiring chemical manufacturers to provide additional information about toxicity and usage would cost the EPA an estimated $128 million over the next five years. The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 (S. 847), sponsored by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), would require the EPA to annually spend approximately $30 million to cover the cost of additional personnel and administrative activities to meet the new requirements of that legislation, the CBO estimated. The EPA currently requires an average annual appropriation of $105 million to implement and enforce the TSCA, the statute that authorizes the agency to require reporting, recordkeeping, and testing of chemical substances and mixtures. The legislation, approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in July, would require the EPA to batch chemicals into groups and prioritize chemical evaluations based on existing risk information, reset the TSCA inventory to establish an up-to-date list of chemicals manufactured and processed in the U.S., and require chemical manufacturers and processors to provide the EPA with additional information on their products. A copy of the CBO report is available online.