SARA Title III: Pitfalls and Practicalities

Direct regulation mandating control, cleanup and other requirements for what used to be known as "industrial waste" imposes heavy enough burdens. But the limitations of such chemical-by-chemical or wastestream by waste-stream approaches—cumbersome rulemaking, lack of knowledge of feasible control technologies, and the resources required to regulate hundreds of individual substances or production processes— are becoming increasingly obvious to citizens and regulatory agencies. Through public referenda, results like Proposition 65 in California, and statutory worker- protection or right-to-know provisions, the toxics world is shifting toward public disclosure of hazardous substances or releases as a way to address whole clusters of perceived environmental risks at once. SARA Title III is a prime example of such a "nonregulatory" approach to third-generation environmental problems. It illustrates the trend toward this kind of approach, as well as its impact and the issues that are raised. It also illustrates...