Toxic Chemical Control Policy: Three Unabsorbed Facts

February 2002

Citation:

ELR 10232

Issue

Author

David Roe

This Dialogue offers three quantitative facts, drawn from long-term experience in toxic chemical control in the United States. Each one documents failure, on a large scale, of conventional federal policy to protect human health against toxic chemical hazards in the environment. Each also disproves some of the core assumptions of that policy. Individually and together, these three facts pose a deep challenge to the policymaking community, not only for toxic chemical control but for environmental regulation broadly.

David Roe is a Senior Attorney with Environmental Defense in its Oakland, California, office. Mr. Roe was the principal author of California's Proposition 65, an architect of the Scorecard website, lead author of the Toxic Ignorance study, and lead negotiator for Environmental Defense in setting up the HPV Challenge Program, all of which are discussed in this Dialogue. Portions of this Dialogue were prepared for "EPA at 30: Evaluating and Improving the Environmental Protection Agency," Conference at Duke Law School (Dec. 7-8, 2000).

Article File

32.10232.htm