Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) has developed language to clarify a provision in the bipartisan Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform bill that some lawyers and others have charged limits the ability of private plaintiffs to bring toxic tort claims in state courts for harms caused by chemicals that EPA has deemed to be safe. During a July 10 conference call hosted by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), Dimitri Karakitsos, Republican counsel on the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee (EPW), said that in drafting the language in S. 1009, Vitter never intended to "preempt or to eliminate state tort claims. We didn't read the language that way, we didn't write the language to read in that way."
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