Background of Voluntary Initiatives

In the late 1990s, three paradigm shifts converged to cause the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to move away from command and control toward a more collaborative approach with its historic antagonists to achieve the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) policy goal that adequate data...be developed with respect to the effect of chemical substances and mixtures on health and the environment...[by] those who manufacture. .. [and]. .. process such chemical substances and mixtures.  

The second paradigm shift was the growing acceptance by the chemical industry of an increasing responsibility to ensure the safety of its products and operations and to make visible to the public its progress on safety. The chemical industry, through its trade group the Chemical Manufacturers 

Environmental Defense Fund, Toxic Ignorance The Continuing Absence of Basic Health Testing for Top-Selling Chemicals in the United States. 24 (1997) [hereinafter Toxic Ignorance], available at http //www.edf.org/documents/243 toxicignorance.pdf. 

Applegate, The Perils of Unreasonable Risk Information, Regulatory Policy, and Toxic Substances Control, 91 Colum. L.Rev. 261,325 (Mar. 1991). 

The Chemical Manufacturers Association was renamed the American Chemistry Council in 2000. All members of the American Chemistry Council must adhere to the Responsible Care Codes of Management Practices and report to the Council on their implementation. The Codes were intended to cover every aspect of chemical operations. Responsible Care is described at http //www.americanchemistry.com/s responsiblecare/ sec.asp CID=1298 DID=4841. 

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