Loading ...More than 25 composites industry representatives visited the offices of California state legislators as part of the Styrene Industry Sacramento Legislative Day, led by the American Composites Manufacturers Association in August. The Legislative Day is a result of industry concern that proposed Cal-EPA regulation on styrene will create unreasonable concerns among employees, plant neighbors and customers, and will threaten the over 15,000 jobs provided by the industry in California.
Cal-EPA has proposed to regulate styrene as a carcinogen. ACMA contends that the proposal is the result of a partial and biased review of the available data: Both the European Union and an international “blue ribbon” expert panel recently reviewed extensive styrene health data and determined that styrene is not likely to cause cancer in humans.
During the event, visits were made to 35 California State Senators and Assemblypersons in an effort to educate and advocate support on the styrene issue. Participants asked their representatives to support reform by the Governor’s office of the Cal-EPA process for assessing chemical health hazards.
After what he considers a round of successful visits, ACMA’s John Schweitzer, senior director of government affairs, said that, “the industry is moving to further educate the legislative offices that were part of the visits, and ACMA is working with them to develop a legislative strategy. As the strategy is implemented, industry members will be asked to again contact their legislators.”
