Last Updated:	2003-05-08
Report Contents
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Introduction

Unlike Europe, the U.S. federal government has not moved aggressively to restrict the presence of specific chemicals or metals in electronic products. The two primary statutes available under U.S. law to restrict substances in products are: (1) the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”), which authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to ban substances that pose an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment; and, (2) the Consumer Product Safety Act, which authorizes the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban the sale of unreasonably hazardous consumer products. EPA may also regulate certain electronic equipment based on the presence of hazardous constituents once the equipment is classified as a waste. See U.S. Hazardous Waste section. In addition, there are specific substances that Congress has banned by legislation. For example, Congress has restricted the use of many ozone depleting substances under the Clean Air Act and has banned the use of anti-fouling paints containing tributyltin on vessels that are 25 meters or less in length. See Organotin Antifouling Paint Control Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 2401-2410.