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Administration Considering Reversing Lead Restrictions in Gasoline
Administration Considering Reversing Lead Restrictions in Gasoline
Source: NewsTarget.com 12/12/06 Author: Ben Kage
The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that the Bush administration's proposal
to rescind health standards that disallow lead in gasoline might be justified, as lead concentrations
in the air have dropped more than 90 percent in the last 25 years.
The EPA said in a preliminary paper published last week it will "evaluate the status of (lead) as a
criteria pollutant ... and assess whether revocation of the standard is an appropriate option for the
(EPA) administrator to consider."
The paper does not reflect a regulatory proposal, said EPA spokesperson John Millett, but is
designed to make the key issues surrounding lead air-quality clear.
"Undoubtedly, the EPA is still going to work to reduce people's exposure to lead," he said.
Lead has been found to cause health problems in adults, and children are even more vulnerable to
the pollutant, showing impaired intelligence and behavioral problems with elevated lead levels.
The Clean Air Act was passed in 1963 to reduce lead levels, and a 1970 amendment limits the use
of lead in gasoline. Many consider the passing of the act one of the most positive steps toward
clean air goals, but heavy lobbying by battery makers and lead smelters and refiners has targeted
the limits for years.
Incoming House Committee on Government Reform Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said
in a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson that the agency should "renounce this dangerous
proposal immediately," because of lead's highly toxic effects. Waxman added that abandoning the
lead air pollution standard would "send the wrong message."
Source: NewsTarget.com 12/12/06 Author: Ben Kage
The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that the Bush administration's proposal
to rescind health standards that disallow lead in gasoline might be justified, as lead concentrations
in the air have dropped more than 90 percent in the last 25 years.
The EPA said in a preliminary paper published last week it will "evaluate the status of (lead) as a
criteria pollutant ... and assess whether revocation of the standard is an appropriate option for the
(EPA) administrator to consider."
The paper does not reflect a regulatory proposal, said EPA spokesperson John Millett, but is
designed to make the key issues surrounding lead air-quality clear.
"Undoubtedly, the EPA is still going to work to reduce people's exposure to lead," he said.
Lead has been found to cause health problems in adults, and children are even more vulnerable to
the pollutant, showing impaired intelligence and behavioral problems with elevated lead levels.
The Clean Air Act was passed in 1963 to reduce lead levels, and a 1970 amendment limits the use
of lead in gasoline. Many consider the passing of the act one of the most positive steps toward
clean air goals, but heavy lobbying by battery makers and lead smelters and refiners has targeted
the limits for years.
Incoming House Committee on Government Reform Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said
in a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson that the agency should "renounce this dangerous
proposal immediately," because of lead's highly toxic effects. Waxman added that abandoning the
lead air pollution standard would "send the wrong message."