Congress introduced legislation this week to revamp the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), according to the National Asphalt Association (NAPA).

The Senate version, “Toxic Chemicals Safety Act” would shift the burden of assessing chemical safety away from EPA and into the hands of the producer or manufacturer, according to the Asphalt Pavement Alliance (APA).

Currently, TSCA requires EPA to assess or test only a few hundred of the approximately 80,000 chemicals currently in commerce.

The proposed legislation, similar to what is occurring in Europe under the REACH program, shifts the assessment burden to the producer of chemical materials, to ensure these materials are deemed safe within certain commerce constraints, APA says.