Right To Know
Cry Wolf Quotes
[I]t is conceivable that this trade secret data would be considered so valuable that a company would elect not to do business in Philadelphia rather than disclose it and so I have detailed our concerns on the issue of confidentiality.
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.
It would require us to mail out forms and get information on 450 or more chemicals from 7,500 firms. We think that would require another 15 people [and $300,000 more in costs].
It will require many small businesses to go through an additional costly and time consuming process of collecting and analyzing information. The benefits of doing so will not significantly improve the protection of human health or the environment.
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.
