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This story was originally published by The New Lede.

In a widely anticipated move, House Republicans released a draft bill that would roll back several provisions in the nation’s premier chemical safety law with the stated goal of bolstering manufacturing and innovation.

The bill would amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a federal law under which the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) evaluates chemicals to make sure human and environmental health will be protected before chemicals are put into the marketplace.

Under the proposal, chemicals approved in certain other countries would be fast-tracked by the EPA and the agency would be required to prioritize chemicals that are designed to be substitutes for more harmful ones or chemicals aimed at easing supply-chain risks for critical materials.

The House Subcommittee on Environment will hold a hearing on the draft bill on January 22.

“Getting TSCA back on track is critical for American chemistry and for the industries like energy, healthcare and agriculture that rely on our innovations,” American Chemistry Council (ACC) president and CEO Chris Jahn said in a statement. “America’s chemical manufacturers depend on a regulatory system that is timely, predictable, and grounded in the best available science.”

The draft bill was introduced Thursday by Rep. Brett Guthrie, a Kentucky Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Gary Palmer, a Republican from Alabama who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment. In a joint statement, the pair said the reforms would “increase accountability, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and safeguard the health and safety of our communities.”

The draft drew swift and fierce criticism from environmental and health advocates.

“This bill is a chemical lobby wish list,” Liz Hitchcock, director of Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, a program within the Toxic-Free Future nonprofit, said in a statement.

TSCA was updated in 2016 with bipartisan support, and has since drawn the ire of the chemical industry, which says it is unnecessarily slow and unreliable, and is stifling US innovation. Congressional Republicans echoed these industry talking points in several hearings last year,........

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