Pesticide info: too pesky a burden for business?

As required by law, EPA calls on makers of pesticides to report on the "composition, toxicity, potential human exposure, environmental properties and ecological effects, and efficacy" of pesticides, so that the agency can "assess the human health and environmental risks associated with the product" and "ensure that pesticide residues in food meet the 'reasonable certainty of no harm' risk standard." We need to make sure that we aren't poisoning ourselves with pesticides, and an important component of our protection is the information that pesticide makers must disclose about the pesticides th

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EPA To Roll Back Lead-Based Paint Protection

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) recently released internal EPA documents that show that Environmental Protection Agency acting administrator, Stephen Johnson, plans to replace a regulation under development by EPA requiring certification of construction workers renovating buildings that may contain lead paint with a voluntary compliance standard. This move to a voluntary standard significantly weakens the regulation and puts more workers and children at risk for lead exposure from dust and debris. From the press release:

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EPA Ignores Cost-Benefit Analysis on Mercury Rule

From the Washington Post: When the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a rule last week to limit mercury emissions from U.S. power plants, officials emphasized that the controls could not be more aggressive because the cost to industry already far exceeded the public health payoff. What they did not reveal is that a Harvard University study paid for by the EPA, co-authored by an EPA scientist and peer-reviewed by two other EPA scientists had reached the opposite conclusion.

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OIRA releases final hit list and new reg report

Wednesday was a big day for OIRA: the office released both the final selections from the industry-nominated hit list and this year's annual draft report on the costs and benefits of regulations. Hit List: What the White House released is a selection of 76 out of the original 189 anti-reg nominations for the hit list. These are the hit list suggestions that the White House and the agencies are endorsing as anti-regulatory priorities.

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Timber Industry Rewrites CA Forest Plan

A new California forest management plan that would triple the annual timber harvest from national forests in the Sierra Nevada was (surprise, surprise) written by industry, according to a press release from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. A California Forest Association lawsuit would install the timber industry's deforestation plan and insulate the plan from further legal challenges through a settlement. PEER has filed in court to intervene in the settlement. From the press release:

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EPA's Rigged Use of Cost-Benefit Analysis

EPA's use of cost-benefit analysis in developing proposed mercury control regulations was deeply flawed, according to a GAO report released yesterday. The report examined how EPA used different variables when comparing different proposals so that the cost-benefit analysis was weighted towards the industry-preferred cap-and-trade method. GAO identified "four major shortcomings in the economic analysis underlying EPA's proposed mercury control options:"

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Round-up: Environment

  • The Environmental Protection Agency is illegally negotiating secret agreements with industry lobbyists over pesticide regulation, according to a lawsuit filed today by NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). The lawsuit specifically cites private agreements between the agency and chemical companies over the regulation of atrazine, one of the most heavily used weed-killers in the country, and DDVP, a highly toxic insecticide. NRDC contends the agreements have undermined public health safeguards by failing to restrict the use of these dangerous chemicals. Learn more.

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Senators Seek to Block Importation of Canadian Beef

In an effort led by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), nine senators are seeking a resolution that would block an Agriculture rule allowing the re-importation of beef from Canada in light of a new case of mad cow disease discovered last month in Alberta. The USDA has decided to delay re-importation for older cattle, but has not withdrawn the rule or delayed re-importation for younger cattle. Click here to contact your representatives. Read OMB Watch analysis on mad cow disease.

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Politicized Science Puts Endangered Species at Risk

A survey of scientists employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that more than 200 scientists say that conclusions of official findings have been reversed to weaken protections for fish and wildlife in order to aid industry. The study, conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists in conjunction with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, also found that more than half of the researchers who responded knew of cases in which industries had used political pressure to alter government findings unfavorable to their business interests.

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IG Report Finds Bias in EPA Mercury Rule

A report by EPA�s Inspector General Nikki Tinsley has confirmed what public interest groups have been saying all along; EPA�s mercury rule is biased towards industry and fails to serve the public interest. From the Washington Post: The Environmental Protection Agency ignored scientific evidence and agency protocols in order to set limits on mercury pollution that would line up with the Bush administration's free-market approaches to power plant pollution, according to a report released yesterday by the agency's inspector general.

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