Chemical Safety Improvement Act

In short, only a fraction of the chemicals in commerce when Congress passed the law are regulated. The debate over whether additional "existing chemicals" should be regulated, which could easily fill several more books, reignited when Congress considered the Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013. (See Section 3.1.3 for more information on that proposed act.)... 

In 2013, the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA, S. 1009) was introduced into the Senate [178]. This proposed bill differed markedly from TSCA in several respects. Although debate over the legislation continues as of this writing, the provisions of the CSIA may indicate the direction that chemical control law will take in the United States. These provisions include the following ... 

Bergeson and Campbell (law firm). 2014. Regulatory Developments Summary of Changes in the Chemical Safety Improvement Act(CSLA, S. 1009) and the Boxer TSCA Version Released September 18, 2014 (September 25, 2014). Available at http // www.lawbc.com/regulatory-developments/entry/summary-of-changes-in-the-chemical-safety-improvement-actcsia-s.-1009-and-t (accessed November 2, 2014). 

U.S. regulatory agency that protects the public against unreasonable risks of injuries or deaths associated with consumer products. The CPSC investigates products to determine if they pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard, or can injure children. They have estimated that their evaluations have significantly contributed to a 30 percent decline in the rate of death and injury associated with consumer products over the last 30 years. See also Consumer Products Safety Act of 1972 Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act of 2008. 

In 1990, the US Clean Air Act authorized the creation of an independent Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), but it did not become operational until 1998. Its role, as defined by 40 CFR Part 1600, is to solely investigate chemical incidents to determine the facts, conditions, and circumstances which led up to the event and to identify the cause, probable cause or causes so that similar chemical incidents might be prevented. Its mandate is significantly different than a regulatory enforcement body, as it does not limit the investigation to only determine if there was a violation of an enforceable requirement, but to determine the cause or the causes of an incident. An assumption stated in the overview for the CSB is that it estimated that annually there would be 330 catastrophic incidents and of these, between 10 and 15 would be major catastrophic incidents with life loss. This is an alarming prediction for the industry and clearly indicates some improvement is needed. 

The responsibility of chemical process managers for preventing air, water, and soil pollution has indirectly influenced plant safety by requiring better control of plant processes to prevent releases of hazardous materials. Regulatory legislation was introduced by the Health, Education, and Welfare Department (Health and Human Services) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require (/) improvements in air quality (1955 Air Pollution Act ... 

However, Na is very chemically reactive substance, which requires special precautions to be taken when it used as a reactor coolant. Therefore, for improved reactor safety, a secondary Na loop is utilized, which acts as a buffer between the radioactive Na—reactor coolant in the primary loop and the water/steam in the third loop—a steam Rankine power cycle. 

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