Bipartisan Bill Strengthens EPA’s Safer Choice Program

Last week, Senators Chris Coons (Democrat-Delaware) and Jon Husted (Republican-Ohio) introduced the Safer Choice Program Authorization Act (SCPAA) to authorize and strengthen the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) voluntary Safer Choice Program. The bill authorizes US$6 million annually from fiscal years 2028 through 2034 to support program operations.

The Safer Choice Program helps consumers, businesses, schools, and institutions identify cleaning chemicals and other products that meet rigorous standards for human health, environmental safety, and performance.

The SCPAA codifies EPA’s long-standing Safer Choice and Design for the Environment Programs, which have helped drive innovation in safer chemistry for decades while providing consumers and institutional purchasers with a trusted federal label for safer products. The Safer Choice and Design for the Environment programs have operated successfully for more than 30 years under administrations of both parties but have never been formally authorized by Congress. The SCPAA would provide statutory certainty for these widely used programs and the stakeholders that depend on them.

“This legislation provides long-term certainty for manufacturers so they can invest in safer chemistry, and so Americans can continue to lead in innovation,” said Senator Coons, co-chair of the Senate Chemistry Caucus. 

“Our bipartisan bill would support and authorize this important program while expanding consumer choice in their everyday products,” Senator Husted said.

The bill would: 

• Formally authorize EPA’s Safer Choice Program.
• Maintain rigorous, science-based standards for participating products.
• Strengthen protections against conflicts of interest in product reviews.
• Ensure continued maintenance of EPA’s Safer Chemical Ingredients List.
• Support transparency, stakeholder engagement, and public access to safer product information.

“The EPA Safer Choice Program has spent decades being the stamp of approval for cleaning products that are both high-performing and safer for people and the environment,” said John Nothdurft, Vice President of Government and Public Affairs, ISSA, the association for cleaning and facility solutions. “This bill gives manufacturers the certainty to invest, gives purchasers a trusted federal benchmark, and gives the American public confidence that the products used in cleaning their schools, hospitals, and workplaces meet a rigorous, science-based standard. ISSA strongly supports this legislation and urges Congress to act.”

Any organization involved in the value chain and decision making for EPA Safer Choice products can contribute their stories using the form on the Making Safer Choices website here.