The Bush administration is proposing to relax measures that curb toxic emissions from a variety of industries, including pulp mills, auto factories, petrochemical plants, and steel mills. Under a new set of rules drafted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the businesses could opt out of the current requirement to reduce toxic fumes from their plants to the maximum extent possible. In some instances, those controls can eliminate virtually all emissions harmful to people's health, but businesses contend they cost too much to implement and provide little health benefit. The emissions at issue are considered hazardous because they can lead to cancer, or damage the brain or a developing fetus. Under the new rules, the EPA would allow businesses to study and report on their own emissions and apply less rigorous controls. But opponents say that this approach would allow toxic releases to continue and would be at odds with the Clean Air Act. Outside California, which has its own rules, many states rely on the EPA to set limits for hazardous air pollutants. "What is really going on here is rollbacks in environmental law, either in the form of no enforcement or misinterpretation of the statute," said Rena Steinzor, director of the University of Maryland's Environmental Law Clinic. "It is going on so far below the water line of the public's attention that they are happening in a fast, furious manner. It's designed to make sure we never regulate anything. It's an end run."

Ran 3/10/03