Lynn L. Bergeson, “Global Chemical Regulations: 2024 Will Be a Consequential Year,” Chemical Processing, January 15, 2024.

First, let’s look at U.S. policy and regulatory developments. In this election year, competing priorities will dominate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions. The agency will seek to complete as many actions as possible while tempering its expectations to avoid any significant pre-election missteps. While there is no consensus on whether the Biden administration’s commitment to policy shifts in chemical management has elicited desirable results, reasonable people will agree it has tried to fulfill campaign promises in a hyperpolarized political climate. Similarly, reasonable people will disagree on whether the administration’s chemicals-management policies have achieved enhanced environmental and human health protection, greater environmental equity and a clearer sense of what scientific integrity looks like. These are tough issues to navigate under the best of circumstances, but the devil is in the details, and for stakeholders laser-focused on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and global chemical governance issues, much work remains to be done.