UPDATE (2/15/19): After being passed by Congress this summer, this legislation has been signed into law by President Donald Trump as part of a 2019 federal spending bill.

US EPA budget contains wins for animal testing alternatives – read the full story: https://t.co/pmRkORxljm #ChemicalWatchNews

— Chemical Watch (@chemicalwatch) March 5, 2019

Original post (7/19/18) 

Following White Coat Waste Project’s campaign to end the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) forced inhalation tests on animals–and advocacy by the majority of taxpayers who oppose this waste and abuse–lawmakers are taking action.  In the just-passed 2019 EPA funding bill, the House of Representatives included a bipartisan amendment that urges the EPA to reduce taxpayer-funded animal testing like that uncovered by WCW. The legislation (page 55) reads:

Intramural animal testing—The Committee commends EPA for recent progress towards reducing unnecessary animal testing by promoting the adoption of cutting-edge methodologies that allow chemical screening more efficiently and cost-effectively. The Committee encourages EPA to ensure that the Agency’s own research is also the subject of Agency efforts to reduce and replace animal tests.

The amendment was co-sponsored by Reps. David Joyce (R-OH) and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) and approved for inclusion by EPA Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) and Ranking Member Betty McCollum (D-MN). 

The inclusion of the provision follows advocacy by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), letters to Congress from over 55,000 WCW supporters and a March 2018 letter WCW sent to the House Appropriations Committee urging it to cut funding for in-house animal testing and maintain support for programs aimed at replacing wasteful animal tests.

Additionally, the EPA spending bill (pages 54-55) includes important language championed by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) maintaining funding for programs aimed at reducing animal testing conducted by and required by EPA, and encouraging more progress and transparency about these efforts.