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NAM to Congress: Reauthorize TSCA’s EPA Fee Authority, Amend Law

By NAM NewsroomSeptember 4, 2026

The Toxic Substances Control Act is critical to manufacturing in the U.S., and Congress should both reauthorize the fee authority it gives to the Environmental Protection Agency and make several changes to the law itself, the NAM says in a new one-pager.

What’s going on: “TSCA governs how the EPA reviews and approves chemicals already in commerce, new chemicals for use in commerce and significant new uses of existing chemicals,” the NAM explained.

  • The 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act gave the EPA the authority to collect fees to defray as much as 25% of the cost of implementing the TSCA, but it expires at the end of September.
  • In addition to reauthorizing that authority, Congress should “mak[e] targeted, commonsense reforms to the law,” said the NAM, which has previously called for an extension of the fee authority.

Why it’s a problem: The TSCA process is broken, which means that “manufacturers across supply chains face delays, uncertainty and reduced access to the chemistries and material building blocks they need to innovate and invest in growing domestic manufacturing.”

  • If Congress fails to reauthorize the EPA’s fee authority by Sept. 30, “the program will lose approximately 25% of its operating budget, significantly slowing an already anemic process.”

What must be done: In addition to reauthorizing the EPA fee authority, lawmakers should:

  • Give the EPA “a durable framework that allows for efficient review and regulation of new chemicals”;
  • Set up a mechanism to mitigate “risk management regulations that duplicate or conflict with [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] regulations and other workplace safety practices”;
  • Revise citizen petition provisions to ensure that the EPA cannot be forced to bypass scientific analysis prior to rulemaking; and
  • Make certain that “investments in the TSCA process made by manufacturers in the U.S. are protected from foreign free-riders, including data and fee compensation.”

Reauthorization of the TSCA’s fee authority, coupled with the above reforms, will “ensure that manufacturers have the inputs they need to invest and grow here in the United States,” according to the NAM.

What’s next: “Manufacturers are calling on committee leaders in the House and Senate to advance critical TSCA legislation as quickly as possible to give manufacturers the certainty to continue to innovate and grow in America,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen. “From batteries to semiconductors, chemicals are foundational to manufacturing, and 2026 is the year to modernize the TSCA to deliver for the long term.”