The Toxic Substances Control Act: 
from the perspective of J. Clarence Davies

J. Clarence Davies’s interview begins with a discussion of his education, and his uncertainty over whether to become an activist or academic. He settled on becoming a professor of public administration, but realized he wanted to have experience working in government. Davies briefly worked at the Office of Management and Budget as the examiner for the environment, where he found himself continually bombarded by chemical crises. He returned to academia, where he wrote an influential book on pollution and chemical regulation, The Politics of Pollution, but was quickly drawn back to government work. Davies soon became involved with the Ash Council, creating the Environmental Protection Agency. Once at the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), he was asked to draft a proposal for a chemical regulation policy; the legislation underwent several iterations as it proceeded through the administration and Congress. Although it eventually passed, it ended up severely weakened. After his time at the CEQ, Davies continued to work on the regulation of chemicals at several non-profit organizations and at the EPA.

Throughout the interview Davies discussed the difficulties in implementing the Toxic Substances Control Act. These included: reaching consensus on the definition of unreasonable risk; developing criteria for risk-assessment; the lack of toxicity data the legislation was able to procure; and crafting testing rules. He also emphasized the legal constraints within TSCA that hindered creating an effective chemicals control policy and the long overdue need for TSCA reform. Davies concluded the interview by commenting on the fact that a new European chemicals policy and increased regulatory activity among the States, as well as attention from prominent environmental groups, has driven the current TSCA reform process. According to Davies, the most important elements of TSCA to address in reform will be the burden of proof in TSCA, the way new chemicals are treated and defined, a re-emphasis on the cross-media capabilities of TSCA, and confidential business information.

Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine

1963 - 1965

Instructor in Government and Director of the Bureau for Research
in Municipal Government

Bureau for the Budget, Executive Office of the President, Washington, D.C.

1965 - 1967

Chief Examiner for Environmental and Consumer Protection

Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

1967 - 1970

Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Affairs

Council on Environmental Quality, Executive Office of the President, Washington, D.C.

1970 - 1973

Senior Staff Member

Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.

1973 - 1976

Fellow and Assistant Director, Institutions and Public Decisions
Division

The Conservation Foundation, Washington, D.C.

1976 - 1989

Executive Vice President

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.

1989 - 1991

Assistant Administrator for Policy, Planning, and Evaluation

National Commission on the Environment, Washington, D.C.

1991 - 1992

Executive Director

Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.

1992 - 2000

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Risk Management

Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.

1992 - present

Senior Fellow, Risk, Resources, and Environmental Management
Division

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C.

2005 - present

Senior Advisor

Jody A. Roberts

Jody A. Roberts is the Associate Director for the Center for Contemporary History and Policy and the Manager of the Environmental History and Policy Program at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. Roberts received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Science and Technology Studies from Virginia Tech and holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Saint Vincent College. His research focuses on the intersections of regulation, innovation, environmental issues, and emerging technologies within the chemical sciences.

Kavita D. Hardy

Kavita D. Hardy is a research assistant in the Environmental History and Policy Program at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. She received a B.A. in Chemistry and in Economics from Swarthmore College.