EPA to Allow More Carcinogens into Air Under New Secret Rule [View All]

[AGENDA21]

A secret proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency, so controversial that it has provoked strong internal dissent, would weaken nearly 100 toxic air pollution standards and allow industrial plants across the country to emit significantly greater amount of toxins, according to a draft rule obtained by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

The draft rule would seriously erode existing standards under the Clean Air Act by permitting thousands of oil refineries, hazardous waste incinerators, chemical plants and steel mills to increase their emissions by as much as 50,000 pounds a year.

Yet EPA dismisses the concerns of its own experts by asserting that polluters would not increase their emissions because they fear "negative publicity" and because they want to "maintain their appearance as responsible businesses."

The rule is so extreme that officials at nine out of the EPA's ten regional offices joined in a nine-page memo to protest the proposal, saying that, if implemented, it "would be detrimental to the environment and undermine the intent" of the Clean Air Act.

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0403-nrdc.html