The Toxic Substances Control Act:
from the perspective of Charles F. Lettow

Charles F. Lettow grew up as a “Sputnik kid,” choosing to study chemical engineering as an undergraduate.  He held one job in the chemical industry before serving in the U.S. Army; after his military service he moved into the field of law.  He undertook two clerkships, one with the Hon. Benjamin C. Duniway and one with the Hon. Warren E. Burger, and he was then invited to work for the President’s Council on Environmental Quality.  There he was involved in the creation of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and several environmental laws, including the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  He and J. Clarence Davies used the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as their primary model for writing a toxics law that would include both a premarket review and imminent hazard provision.  According to Lettow, the law was intentionally not prescriptive in order to give the EPA the flexibility to adapt to innovations, changing uses of materials, and new knowledge about materials.  Because of the multifunctional nature of chemicals, they opted for a use restriction provision rather than an FDA-style approval process.  

At the end of the interview Lettow discusses his belief that the law should have been workable with a creative bureaucracy.  He also talks about the debates surrounding the issues of preemption, citizen suits, judicial review, penalties, administrative searches, and confidentiality.  While the law underwent changes during the Congressional debates, Lettow believes it was not substantially different from his and Davies’s draft.  

Proctor & Gamble, Co., Cincinnati, Ohio

1962 - 1963

Engineer, Soap Products Research Department

U.S. Army, 3rd Infantry Division, Germany

1963 - 1965

2nd Lt., 1st Lt.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, San Francisco, California

1968 - 1969

Law Clerk to Benjamin C. Duniway

U.S. Supreme Court, Washington, D.C.

1969 - 1970

Law Clerk to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger

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

1970 - 1973

Counsel

Cleary, Gottleib, Steen & Hamilton, LLP, Washington, D.C.

1973 - 1976

Associate

Cleary, Gottleib, Steen & Hamilton, LLP, Washington, D.C.

1976 - 2003

Partner

U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Washington, D.C.

2003 - present

Judge

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.