Hearings Today in Senate on Administration Meddling in EPA Science. By H. Josef Hebert, AP, April 29, 2008. "[After 18 months of research, the General Accounting Office has issued a report which states that] the Bush administration is undermining the EPA's ability to determine health dangers of toxic chemicals by letting nonscientists have a bigger -- often secret -- role [in decision-making]. The administration's decision to give the Defense Department and other agencies an early role in the process adds to years of delay in acting on harmful chemicals and jeopardizes the program's credibility, the GAO concluded. At issue is the EPA's screening of chemicals used in everything from household products to rocket fuel to determine if they pose serious risk of cancer or other illnesses. A new review process begun by the White House in 2004 is adding more speed bumps for EPA scientists, the GAO said in its report, which will be the subject of a Senate Environment Committee hearing Tuesday. A formal policy effectively doubling the number of steps was adopted two weeks ago... GAO investigators said extensive involvement by EPA managers, White House budget officials and other agencies has eroded the independence of EPA scientists charged with determining the health risks posed by chemicals."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment