Industry, advocates agree on need for reform

In yesterday's Congressional hearing, even chemical industry representatives conceded the need to reform the nation's chemical law.

Environmental health advocates and experts have long found the 33-year old law to be ineffective at ensuring the safety of the 80,000 chemicals in commerce.

So what would a new chemical regulation system look like?

Michael Belliveau of the Environmental Health Strategy Center in Maine developed a comparison chart outlining the foundations of three chemical policy systems now in use.

The three systems are: the current US federal law (Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA), REACH, which is the regulatory system in Europe, and US state policies that are being implemented in California, Maine, and Washington.

The chart also serves as a general primer on key policy elements, such as data requirements, public right to know, and chemical alternatives assessment and substitution planning that will be debated as Congress moves to reshape chemical laws.

The time for reform is now, as environmental health advocates and the chemistry industry both agree a change is needed.

"The public has no confidence in government regulation," said Mark Rohr, chairman of Albemarle Corp., who serves on the board of the American Chemistry Council, according to a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It is in everyone's interest to strengthen the law."

Click here  to download and view Belliveau’s comparison chart.