Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

The 1970s brought new chemicals that would slow materials from catching fire. Policies and practices were adopted from California to Maine to encourage or mandate their adoption to save lives of victims and first responders. States also adopted policies that required the addition or application of fire-retardants in the construction and furnishings of public buildings. The addition of fire-retardant chemicals spread quickly among industries involved in the production of textiles, furniture, and home building materials.

As research on fire-retardant chemicals progressed in the scientific community, occasionally entering mainstream media, doubts about their safety for environmental and human health emerged. Starting in the 2000s, California was at the forefront of their regulation by requiring labels and banning some chemicals. Other states followed suit. While some efforts to regulate fire retardants at the federal level emerged in light of the 2013 and 2015 amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA), their regulation is still largely left to the states, providing for a unique opportunity to study the diffusion of regulatory retrenchment.

This contribution is based on qualitative empirical research that retraces the policy making process in key states, while examining how stakeholders at various levels of government interact to influence the state-to-state regulatory retrenchment process. The results not only point the key role policy communities and entrepreneurs play in shaping state-level innovation processes but also illustrate the difficulties in finding effective regulatory solutions to a complex health and safety problem while providing room for innovation.