The Bush administration wants to consider relaxing restrictions of how much lead polluters can spew into the air. Why? Because existing environmental policies have lowered the level of lead in the air enough already, according to a draft report (pdf) by the Environmental Protection Agency. Why overdo it?
“Given the significantly changed circumstances since lead was listed in 1976,” such restrictions on the deadly substance may no longer be needed, the EPA reasons. (A number of corporate interests, including battery manufacturers, have been lobbying the EPA hard to relax its lead emissions rules, as the AP has noted.)
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the perennial bulldog, fired off a letter to the EPA’s head yesterday, marveling that he would revoke the national standard for lead and urging him to “renounce this dangerous policy immediately.” We’ve posted a copy of Waxman’s letter here.
