David Fischer Quoted in Inside TSCA Article on Impact of Trump Cuts Within EPA

Keller and Heckman Counsel David Fischer was quoted in the Inside TSCA article, “Industry Scrambles To Preserve TSCA Resources Amidst Trump Cuts.” The article addresses the concern by many industry officials over the Trump administration’s plans to cut the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) budget and how this could affect the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) program’s ability to continue to regulate new and existing chemicals.

David told Inside TSCA that companies are concerned about potential cuts because “at the end of the day, it’s the career staff that do a lot of the work, making the trains run on time. And if you don’t have those folks there in an effort to find efficiencies, you’re just going to frustrate the stakeholders who are the customers at EPA. That’s certainly the case with TSCA.”

David then noted that such concerns could drive regulatory and legislative streamlining efforts: “Maybe that underscores the need to find ways in the regulations and statute to make things more efficient, to focus on what you need to do to get things implemented as timely as possible, and to narrow the scope of risk evaluations, risk management rules and focus on what really is an unreasonable risk and what isn’t. This may be a real opportunity to find ways of streamlining the process while being true to TSCA.”

He added, however, “I’m doing what I can to find a silver lining.”

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