Synthesizing TSCA and REACH: Practical Principles for Chemical Regulation Reform

54 Pages Posted: 3 Aug 2008

See all articles by John S. Applegate

John S. Applegate

Indiana University Maurer School of Law

Date Written: July 28, 2008

Abstract

The European Union's newly enacted comprehensive regulation for industrial chemicals, known as REACH, draws heavily on three decades of experience in the United States under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Much of that experience has been negative, inasmuch as TSCA is widely regarded as a disappointment among US environmental laws, and so REACH deliberately reverses many of the legislative choices that Congress made in TSCA. REACH also takes advantage of important new regulatory concepts that were not available to the framers of TSCA thirty years ago. The passage of REACH has sparked renewed interest in reforming TSCA, and the reformers will undoubtedly look to REACH for ideas. This article contends that, while many aspects of REACH can fairly be understood as the Anti-TSCA, on closer examination REACH follows many of TSCA's fundamental approaches to chemicals regulation. The fundamental similarities offer a unique opportunity to develop a synthesis of the two regulatory regimes, which could form the practical basis for updating TSCA. While reform based on a synthesis of TSCA and REACH would be evolutionary rather than revolutionary, it could nevertheless greatly improve chemicals regulation in the US. This article offers principles for such reform. The article concludes with a discussion of the global impact of national regulatory systems like REACH.

Keywords: TSCA, REACH, chemical regulation

JEL Classification: K32

Suggested Citation

Applegate, John S., Synthesizing TSCA and REACH: Practical Principles for Chemical Regulation Reform (July 28, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1183942 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1183942

John S. Applegate (Contact Author)

Indiana University Maurer School of Law ( email )

211 S. Indiana Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405
United States

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