Kudos to Rep. Tom McClintock for His Principled Stand

Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of TSCA reform (H.R. 2576) by a roll call vote of 398 in favor, one opposed, and 34 members not voting. Yesterday, I lamented the fact that this bill was pushed through under suspension of the rules, which is supposed to be for low-cost, non-controversial bills, which is something that TSCA reform certainly is not.

In any case, the issue is very complicated, and I am willing to bet money that many of those members who voted yea could offer few details about this legislation, what it does, or what the impact might be, which to some extent remains an enigma. 

That said, one principled member who dared to vote against this legislation deserves some praise. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) apparently did his homework and had very good reasons for voting no. I contacted his office to inquire why he would be willing to vote nay, while 398 of his colleagues voted yea. His staff sent me the following statement, which outlines many of the reasons that I am also very skeptical that this legislation will do any good:

This is a well-intentioned bill that accomplishes the opposite of what it is designed to do.  Its purpose is to expedite and standardize the evaluation of toxic chemicals.  Instead, it grants sweeping new powers to the EPA, removes the consideration of cost when conducting a risk evaluation, removes the “least burdensome regulation required” standard from current law, dedicates an unaccountable revolving fund in the Treasury for EPA evaluations, and still allows states to adopt more stringent standards.  Thus, it greatly increases the burdens on low-regulatory states without easing the burdens on high-regulatory states. 

Wow, he says it all in a nutshell! In particular, the elimination of the requirement that EPA consider and apply the “least burdensome regulation” is critical. That standard holds regulators accountable and ensures that they don’t do more harm than good or impose more burdens than necessary, all while protecting public health. 

Kudos to Tom McClintock (and his staff) for doing his homework and having the courage to take a tough, principled stand. He’s a rare breed among politicians.