The European Union’s (EU) Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) regulation is moving through legislation bodies toward law even as business and chemical industry groups fight to quash it. REACH has been called “RoHS on steroids” because if its potential to force the electronics industry to revamp components to avoid the inclusion of toxic chemicals not addressed by RoHS. REACH will come before the EU Parliament Environment Committee in October, then it moves on to the Parliament Plenary where it may receive final approval. Even if it doesn’t receive final approval in October, most industry watchers believe it will be approved in a manner of weeks or months after the October reading. “REACH has been through its first reading and it expected to pass late this year or early next year,” says Michael Kirschner, president of Design Chain Associates, a San Francisco consulting firm that helps electronic industry OEMs with environmental compliance. REACH will have a much wider application than RoHS, which exclusively targeted toxic chemicals in electronic products. More