Clinton Tightens Toxin Rules
President Clinton announced tougher guidelines for companies that use toxic chemicals, one day after a federal court reaffirmed a decision blocking the Environmental Protection Agency from imposing tougher air pollution controls on smog and soot.
Companies that use even the smallest amounts of highly toxic chemicals will be required to report the use to the public, President Clinton said in his weekly radio address Saturday.
Current federal regulations require only companies that use large amounts of extremely toxic chemicals, like mercury and dioxin, to disclose their use. The president said that lowering the amount for disclosure -- even as little as ten pounds of toxic chemicals -- will put pressure on polluting companies to act more responsibly.
"By requiring industries to tell communities how much they pollute the air and water, we empower citizens to fight back, and create a powerful incentive for industry to pollute less," Mr. Clinton said.
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a private watchdog group, praised the new rules action but said they contained "some serious flaws." It cited the absence of lead, a substance known to hinder children's development, from the list of substances.
In a split ruling Friday, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected the government's appeal for stricter air pollution controls and kept in place a decision in May overturning the new pollution regulations imposed in 1997.
Two years ago, President Clinton directed the EPA to issue the tougher air rules, which require states to meet more stringent reductions in smog-causing ozone and in microscopic soot.
Clinton administration officials said the Justice Department is expected to take the case to the Supreme Court with hopes of a decision by next summer.
"While the appeal process moves forward, we will continue to pursue all available actions to secure cleaner air for the American people," EPA Administrator Carol Browner said in a statement.
Business groups waged an intense battle against the regulation before they were issued in 1997, arguing they were too costly and not grounded in adequate science. Later, a broad cross-section of groups representing the trucking, utility, chemical, oil and auto industries, as well as small businesses, challenged the rules in a lawsuit. Three states -- Ohio, Michigan
and West Virginia -- also joined the suit.
In May, a three-judge panel of the appeals court decided 2-1 to overturn the regulation, saying the EPA had failed to justify the pollution levels it selected. The panel also said the soot rule was an "unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority" under the Clean Air Act.
On another environmental topic, Mr. Clinton on Saturday criticized the Republican-sponsored Interior Department spending bill, which he said "is laden with provisions that would benefit special interests at the expense of our public interest and ouenvironment." He promised to veto the bill if it is sent to him.
The president also announced that the non-profit Wildlands Conservancy is donating to the federal government an additional 14,000 acres of the Joshua Tree National Park in California.