Rights and duties concerning the availability of environmental risk information to the public

Both American and European societies are moving in the same direction - towards greater recognition of the need to make risk information available to the public, and greater reliance on communication as a policy instrument for reducing technological hazards. The American approach has been more expansive in providing information rights to the public and promoting public involvement in solving technical risk problems; but has not paid sufficient attention to actual performance problems, such as how to resolve disputes and systematically provide equivalent safety to all persons. The European approach has sought to maintain traditional joint responsibility of industry and government for systematically solving problems, but has resisted conferring public rights of access to industrial information which would permit the public to effectively participate in the development of the programs to prevent and respond to accidents. One can only conclude that each industrial society has much to learn from the other. (orig./HSCH)