EPA Failing on Children’s Environmental Health Issues

From our friends at OMB Watch

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) told a Senate oversight committee Sept. 16 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ignored recommendations from an advisory committee established to assist the agency in creating policies to protect children’s health. For example, in developing three recent air quality standards on particulate matter, ozone, and lead, EPA either rejected the committee’s recommendations or treated them as one of many public comments, according to GAO.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held the oversight hearing because of the concern that EPA has rolled back or not acted on standards for dangerous chemicals, such as perchlorate, mercury, and lead, all at the expense of children’s health, according to the opening statement of Sen. Barbara Boxer☼ (D-CA), chair of the committee. Boxer and Sen. Hillary Clinton☼ (D-NY) asked GAO to review EPA’s efforts. GAO’s John Stephenson testified on the interim findings of a longer-term study the office is conducting and expects to complete in 2009. (more…)

Pesticide Problems Go Unnoticed by EPA

By our friends at OMB Watch

The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) has discovered that two groups of common pesticides, generally considered to be “safer” chemicals, are responsible for one quarter of reported human pesticide poisonings, based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) own data. CPI spent several years demanding the release of the data through repeated Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. A trade association representing the interests of the consumer specialty products industry denounced the report.

Report FindingsThe CPI report, Perils of the New Pesticides, analyzes the number of reported human health problems, including severe reactions and deaths, linked to two families of pesticides, pyrethrins and pyrethroids, over the past decade. Pyrethrins are a class of chemicals derived from chrysanthemum plants. Pyrethroids have similar properties but are created synthetically. Pesticides made with these chemicals are found in thousands of common household products such as flea and tick poisons, ant and roach killers, delousing shampoos, lawn-care products, and carpet sprays.

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OMB Shutting Out EPA on CO2 Regulation

By Matt Madia at OMBWatch

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is close to finalizing its Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on greenhouse gas emission regulation. The ANPRM is an indication that EPA may someday consider taking a look at possibly addressing global warming through some sort of undefined future action…perhaps.

Even still, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is all over the document like stink on a monkey.

The Wall Street Journal has gotten a sneak peak at the document and reports on it this morning: “The draft document…outlines how the government, under the Clean Air Act, could regulate greenhouse gas

emissions…”

The Journal goes on to identify OMB’s likes and dislikes:

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget has asked the EPA to delete section of the document that say such emissions endanger public welfare, say how those gases could be regulated, and show an analysis of the cost of regulating greenhouse gases in the U.S. and other countries.

The OMB instead wants the document to show that the Clean Air Act is flawed …

The ANPRM is currently still under review at OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Insiders believe it may be published later this week, but it will probably reflect the views of OMB, not EPA.

In 2007, EPA promised — in response to a Supreme Court decision mandating it consider greenhouse gas regulation under the Clean Air Act— to actually take action greenhouse gas emissions through a notice of proposed rulemaking. But in March, EPA announced instead that it would pursue the ANPRM.

At the time, there was no proof of White House interference. However, recent reports show that OMB blocked EPA’s proposal. As The New York Times reported last week, OMB went so far as to refuse to open an email containing EPA’s proposal.

EPA and White House officials maintain that Johnson made the ultimate decision to punt on greenhouse gas regulation, but the evidence indicates otherwise. As we’ve seen with the California waiver decision

and the revision to the national standard for smog, Johnson is merely a puppet for the White House.

OMB is calling the shots on seemingly every major environmental policy decision; it is running roughshod over agency scientists, ignoring the plain language of federal law, and disregarding court orders.

Jason Burnett, an associate administrator for EPA, recently resigned in frustration. The Washington Post reports on his sad yet accurate assessment:

Burnett refused to comment on the White House calls but said in an interview, “In early December, I sent an e-mail with the formal finding that action must be taken to address the risk of climate change,” adding that he resigned his political appointment because the agency had been stymied in its efforts to respond to the Supreme Court. “The White House made it clear they did not want to address the ramifications of that finding and have decided to leave the challenge to the next administration. Some [at the White House] thought that EPA had mistakenly concluded that climate change endangers the public. It was no mistake.”