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IU Maurer School of Law
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Last modified: Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Applegate article selected as one of the best environmental law articles in 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An article by Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor John Applegate has been selected as one of the top five environmental law articles of 2009.

"Synthesizing TSCA and REACH: Practical Principles for Chemical Regulation Reform" will appear in Volume 41 of Thomson-West's Land Use and Environmental Law Review. Articles that appear in this annual publication are selected through a peer review process that considers all major land use and environmental law articles that appeared in the previous year.

Applegate's article, initially published in Ecology Quarterly, traces the roots of the European Union's comprehensive regulation for industrial chemicals -- known as REACH -- from American regulations adopted under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Applegate points to the European Union's intentional reversal of many of the legislative strategies implemented under the American policy, noting that the adoption of REACH could provide a starting point to undertake reform efforts of TSCA. At the same time, REACH adopts much of TSCA's basic approach to chemical regulation. As a result, "Synthesizing TSCA and REACH" concludes, reform efforts of TSCA are likely to be "evolutionary, rather than revolutionary." Applegate believes such an approach could greatly improve chemicals regulation in the United States.

Applegate is the Walter W. Foskett Professor of Law and the IU Vice President for University Regional Affairs, Planning and Policy. He is recognized nationally for his work in environmental risk assessment and policy analysis, and he has written many articles on the regulation of toxic substances and public participation in environmental decisions. He currently serves as a member of the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences.