RCRA in the Workplace: Using Environmental Law to Combat Dangerous Conditions in Sweatshops

In this Note, Ariela Migdal considers the role of environmental law in the workplace. She argues that the protections environmental law provides against unsafe environmental conditions extend to unsafe conditions on the job. In particular the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) affords citizens broad protection against endangerment caused by solid waste. Migdal considers whether
RCRA’s citizen suit provision could be used to combat dangerous conditions in American garment sweatshops. She examines the factors that have prevented traditional labor laws from addressing these dangerous conditions, applies RCRA’s provision to the case of the garment industry, and concludes that the language and case law of RCRA accommodate its application to some of the dangers present in the sweatshop environment.