Alexandra Rosenbluth* Latravia Smith**
ABSTRACT
The existing legal frameworks in the United States (US) and the European Commission (EC) that regulate industrial chemicals represent divergent methods for controlling market entry, market restriction, and subsequent regulatory oversight when enforcement of these mechanisms fail. Contrary to the prevailing view that the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) law, which amended the US Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), is the ‘gold standard’ for chemical regulation, the central premise of this article is that the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act for the 21st Century provides unique opportunities for preventing environmental releases from new and existing chemical substances, which amounts to, if not more stringent, than REACH.
Keywords: REACH, TSCA, Lautenberg, toxic chemicals.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jsdlp.v7i2.1
* Graduated from the College of William & Mary in 2015 where she majored in Government and Environmental Science & Policy. Alexandra is now a community organizer at a small non-profit working on a just transition to renewable energy in Southern Oregon. During the summer of 2014, she served as a Policy Fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pollution Prevention & Toxics.
** A student at Florida A&M College of Law, Juris Doctor candidate, class of 2017. She is currently enrolled in the Center for International Law and Justice, which focuses on international and comparative law of developing nations. This past summer, she served as an Honors Law Clerk at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement Compliance Assurance. The information presented herein is a synthesis of their research. Note: the views and opinions expressed represent those of the authors and not necessarily those of the College of William & Mary, Florida A&M University College of Law, nor the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency