Right To Know
Cry Wolf Quotes
Please, dear legislator, do not eliminate my job because you have put the business places in Pennsylvania in a noncompetitive situation where we cannot compete with Ohio, New York, New Mexico, and so forth. Pennsylvania should have our laws consistent with other States so that our manufacturers can continue to employ our neighbors, our sons and grandsons and granddaughters, so that we can work in Pennsylvania, so that we are not driving our people out of the Commonwealth.
This is probably the single most anti-business bill to become law in New Jersey in recent years. The governor’s decision to sign it will cause serious doubts among people in business about the state’s commitment to encouraging growth and jobs.
I feel that the sponsors and endorsers of Bill 270 have been "taken in" by the spurious and irresponsible claims of its drafters. I very much fear that those drafters are motivated by a "zero-risk" philosophy which is impossible to achieve….Not only is it unnecessary, but attempting to achieve "zero-risk" can destroy business and commerce.
We must all be aware of one very basic fact: all, absolutely all, chemicals are potentially toxic substances….The key, as I have previously stated, is the quantitative level, the concentration at which any chemical substance is present. Thus anything, I repeat anything, present in an excessive amount is a toxic substance. You cannot legislate against every conceivable chemical substance and therefore, the need for a truly meaningful definition for a toxic substance should be evident.
Related Laws and Rules
Evidence
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Reducing Carcinogens in Public Schools: A non-regulatory approach by a regulatory agency
Using the New Jersey Right to Know law, advocates were able to find 318 public school districts in their state that used or held a list of 10 known carcinogens, including arsenic, benezene, vinyl chloride, and lead chromate. The study documents how these substances are used and who is exposed to them. The authors then show that the schools disposed of the toxics, or used them all up and did not order replacements.
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Fear and Loathing about the Public Right to Know: The Surprising Success of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act
Wolf methodically documents at the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act and its effects. He carefully documents industry reaction against the bill, and which of their claims can be supported in retrospect.
Backgrounders & Briefs
Dying To Know: A Historical Analysis of the Right-To-Know Movement
This survey provides a sweeping analysis of the right-to-know movement in America.
