Another data point for our potential move to Europe. The United States is entirely too lenient on chemical manufacturers.
EU Panel Strengthens Landmark Chemical Bill - WSJ.com In a setback for global industry, a European Parliament panel strengthened a landmark bill that would more tightly regulate chemicals in the European Union before sending it toward final passage.The petrochemical industry had been trying to reduce the estimated $6.3 billion cost of complying with the new law over the next decade by asking the EU to accept chemical-safety and environmental data already submitted to other regulatory bodies. That would have reduced the number of expensive new tests.
The EU Parliament's environmental committee rejected an amendment from a conservative Dutch lawmaker that would have required the EU to accept data prepared for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, of Paris, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other chemical regulators.
The text of the law -- dubbed Reach for “registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals” -- already encourages the EU to make use of OECD data. The National Petrochemical Refiners Association, based in Washington, had lobbied in Brussels to remove any ambiguity about whether such data would meet EU standards.
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On one of the most hard-fought points, the environmental panel also voted to require companies to substitute safer chemicals whenever possible in manufacturing processes. “It is an incentive [for companies] to look at more possible substitutes and ecofriendly alternatives,” said Guido Sacconi, the Italian Socialist shepherding the legislation through Parliament.
Tags: environment, /pollution, /regulation
