TSCA Section 9 Relationship to Other Federal Laws

Section 9 of the Toxic Substances Control Act provides that the EPA Administrator shall consult and coordinate with the heads of other appropriate federal executive departments or agencies to achieve maximum enforcement of TSCA while imposing the least burden of duplicative requirements. The Administrator is also directed to coordinate actions taken under TSCA with actions taken under other federal laws administered by the EPA, such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. If risk is already managed effectively under a different statute, regulation under TSCA is not necessary.

With regard to other statutes administered by the Agency, Section 9 directs that if the Administrator determines that a risk to health or the environment associated with a chemical substance or mixture could be eliminated or reduced to a sufficient extent by actions taken under those other federal laws, the Administrator shall use those other laws unless the Administrator determines, in the Administrator's discretion, that it is in the public interest to protect against such risk by actions taken under TSCA.

With regard to statutes administered by other federal agencies, Section 9 directs that if the Administrator has reasonable basis to conclude that the manufacture, processing, distribution in commerce, use, or disposal of a chemical substance or mixture presents or will present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment and determines, in the Administrator's discretion, that such risk may be prevented or reduced to a sufficient extent by action taken under a federal law administered by another agency, the Administrator shall submit to that agency a report that describes the risk and requests that the other agency determine if the risk may be prevented or reduced to a sufficient extent by action taken under that law, and if so, to issue an order declaring whether or not the activities present such risk.

To enhance coordination across agencies and programs, EPA meets both formally and informally with other federal agencies including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Food and Drug Administration to share information on chemicals of potential mutual concern. Similarly, the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics shares information on chemicals with the EPA Regions and with other program offices within EPA, including the Office of Air and Radiation, the Office of Water, the Office of Pesticide Programs, and the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, to alert them to potential chemical issues and to coordinate risk management activities.

Lead and mercury are both examples of EPA programs addressing risks from certain chemical substances that involve coordination across multiple laws, including TSCA, and require cooperation with other agencies.