Harvard is resisting proposals by state legislators to develop regulations of hazardous substances, including many chemicals used in medical research here.

In the wake of a recent ruling upholding Cambridge's authority to ban nerve gas testing as a health hazard, elected representatives have begun a push for statewide procedures of licensing and inspecting.

The Special Task Force on Hazardous Substances, co-chaired by Sen. George Bachrach (D-Watertown) and Rep. Thomas M. Gallagher (D-Boston), is scheduled to have a report on possible regulations for the Joint Legislative Committee on Health Care by mid-December.

Task force members include legislators, public health officials, scientists, and representatives from several private companies and area universities, Harvard among them.

Harvard Clams Up

While the group wants to identify the few hundred most hazardous substances and the minimum amounts of them which might make specific guidelines advisable, Harvard and the other schools have been reluctant to provide information on how much of what they use and what their safety procedures are, Bachrach said yesterday.

"We've been asking what your internal procedures are, but unfortunately the response has been that there is no formal procedure, at least none that's understandable to me," he said.

He said the purpose of having university and company voices on the task force was to encourage a cooperative approach to the problem, but it hasn't been working.

"There is a notion that they can handle the risks without regulation. That's what they said before Three Mile Island, before Bhopal, and before Institute, West Virginia," Bachrach said.

Unless communication improves, "There are judgments we'll have to make [without private help] for a permit system with notice [to the state government about what substances are being used] and a review process at the local level," said Bachrach.

Now, George...

Harvard Director of State Affairs Richard J. Doherty, who serves on the panel for the University, said he was surprised by the legislators's criticism. "I don't have any great explanation of that," he said.

"The university involvement on the task force has been much more noticeable than the industry participation," said Doherty.

"I think one of the things has been frustrating for Bachrach and Gallagher was that they thought there could be a neat list of what chemicals are toxic, and that does not exist. It's a very complex area that's not going to be easily regulated."

"If the regulations aren't carefully drafted, they might make it more difficult to do the kind of research that's going on," Doherty said.