Addressing environmental contamination through market regulations: comparative lessons from the United States and the European Union

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