Originally published February 26 2006
EPA proposes weakening toxic chemical law
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Environmental Protection Agency is taking steps to weaken a law that requires industries to report toxic chemicals they release into the air, water or soil, proposing less frequent reporting and a higher threshold for toxins, while making it unnecessary for industries to report some of the most toxic chemical released, including those that involve lead, mercury and PCBs.
IN THE WAKE of the deadly release of toxic chemicals in Bhopal, India, more than 20 years ago, Congress began requiring industry to report each year which toxic chemicals were released into U.S. air, water and soil.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has touted that law as instrumental in reducing the amount of toxic chemicals released and praised it for informing communities about the level of pollution where they live.
In 2003, the EPA administrator said compiling the inventory, the Toxics Release Inventory, was one of the most important things the EPA does.
Yet now, the EPA has taken the first steps to weaken the law by proposing a higher threshold and less frequent reporting and eliminating the need to report releases of some of the most toxic chemicals, including lead, mercury and PCBs.
U.S. manufacturers applaud the move, saying it will reduce paperwork for small business.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, joining 11 other state attorneys general, has challenged the legality of scaling back the reporting requirements.
"People have a right to know about how much pollution is released into our water, air and communities.
Requiring industries to report emissions puts the costs of data-gathering on the sources rather than the taxpayers," he said in a prepared statement.
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