The current regulatory approach is cautious and methodical in order to ensure that the minimum standards that facilities must comply with are defensible. It is slow to identify and respond to new threats. A threat must become a tangible and serious issue before being addressed. And when we do address it, it is often with the traditional command and control approach that focuses on the largest sources of pollution not necessarily the greatest exposures.

As a result, poorly understood or especially difficult to tackle threats such as consumer products or non-point sources of pollution are inadequately addressed or rely only general education efforts from government agencies.

The command-and-control system that forms the foundation of our environmental programs relies on a paternalistic view that says that government knows best. The government makes the decision. It sets the standards for performance. However, this view overlooks the fact that government is setting only minimum standards. Standards that reflect a compartmentalized view of environmental threats that are adopted only when the threat is serious, clearly understood, and of significance to the general population and that acts only when we have sources of pollution that we can command and control.

Yet, there is another approach. Rather than commanding controls, the new approach relies communication recognizing that parents have a right-to-know the potential environmental threats to their children so they can take appropriate action. We need to go beyond the paternalism of the current approach and trust the public and parents to make their own decisions and allow businesses and communities to respond to the decisions and concerns. We still need the minimum standards, but we need to acknowledge that they are only minimums.

We have models for success. For more than ten years, the federal Toxics Release Inventory program required manufacturers to annually report their toxic chemical releases and how they manage their toxic chemicals in waste. The program does not require any changes in the operations or the releases. The focus is on making the public aware of what is occurring.

Given the underlying forces created by effective communication and the flexibility to address concerns, manufacturers have responded by making tremendous reductions in their toxic chemical releases.

A similar model can be found in the federal Hazard Communication program where businesses are required to communicate the hazards of chemicals in the workplace to workers. The program relies on Material Safety Data Sheets to exchange information. These MSDSs have become the foundation for chemical hazard information in our society.

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