Risk management regulatory frameworks

Development and implementation of the comprehensive and risk-based hazardous waste classification system presented in this Report would be facilitated by changes in the current legal and regulatory framework for managing radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes in the United States. A number of examples have been discussed previously in this Report and are summarized below. 

The regulatory framework is based on a risk management approach designed to ensure public health and safety while, at the same time, freeing industry from any unnecessary regulatory burden. 

REACH has provided a structure in which a well-informed chemicals risk management can be developed. In particular, it creates a legislative and regulatory framework for all substances in which the procurement of data for making reasonably reliable risk assessment is possible. But on the other hand, as we have seen, it does not require the creation of such data for all substances for which it is needed. This should be no surprise. The deficiencies in the previous system of chemicals regulation were so large that it would be unrealistic to believe that they could be solved in one single reform. It is only to be expected that there should be scope for improvement. A discussion is needed that identifies the most important of the potential improvements of the system, and in this spirit we would like to propose three important issues for the further development of REACH. 

Risk assessment evaluates risk in terms of hazard and exposure, but reference to risk levels must account for different perceptions of risk as well as scientific uncertainties in risk assessment. In short, this research project considers the importance of social and institutional processes in influencing risk perceptions and risk acceptability. This book therefore takes a constrained relativist approach by incorporating risk perceptions in the research framework. An unconstrained relativist perspective would imply that no scientific study is reliable or robust. By contrast, a constrained relativist approach can provide a useful basis for examining the different social and cultural factors involved in regulatory risk management. 

Framework for Chemical Risk Management under REACH Regulatory Decision-Making... 

The Framework Report is intended primarily for EPA risk assessors, EPA risk managers, and persons who perform work under EPA contract or sponsorship. The terminology and concepts described in the report may also assist other regulatory agencies, as well as members of the public who are interested in ecological issues. 

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