Bush EPA Rolls Back Endangered Species Act, Pesticide Protection

[Guest guest]

> Wed, 01 Sep 2004 13:09:49 GMT

> " BushGreenwatch " <info

 

> Bush EPA Rolls Back Endangered Species Act,

> Pesticide Protection

>

> ***************************************

> BUSHGREENWATCH

> Tracking the Bush Administration's Environmental

> Misdeeds

> http://www.bushgreenwatch.org

> ***************************************

>

> September 1, 2004

>

> BUSH EPA ROLLS BACK ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT,

> PESTICIDE PROTECTION

>

>

> The Bush administration's Environmental Protection

> Agency (EPA)

> has found a subtle way to sidestep the Endangered

> Species Act.

>

> New rules, announced in late July, allow EPA to

> approve new

> pesticides without consulting the Fish and Wildlife

> Service or

> the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine

> possible harm

> to wildlife. [1]

>

> The new rules greatly favor industries that produce

> pesticides.

> As reported by BushGreenwatch, a special chemical

> industry task

> force has used insider access to the EPA to achieve

> this rule

> change.

>

> Federal officials claim the new regulations will

> " streamline "

> the pesticide approval process. Patti Goldman,

> managing attorney

> with the Seattle office of environmental group

> Earthjustice,

> sees it differently. " EPA has a problem, and its

> problem is that

> it has not complied with the Endangered Species Act

> for

> pesticides for over a decade. So when it says

> 'streamlining,'

> it's trying to streamline away the requirements,

> rather than

> find a streamlined way to come into compliance with

> them. "

>

> Goldman was lead attorney in Earthjustice's

> successful suit

> against EPA, demanding that the agency complete

> required

> consultations with the National Marine Fisheries

> Service (NFMS)

> on how pesticide uses would affect threatened and

> endangered

> Pacific coast salmon.

>

> " EPA registers pesticides before they can be used

> throughout the

> United States, and it has never even taken the first

> steps to

> make sure the pesticide uses it authorizes won't

> harm salmon "

> listed under the ESA, Goldman told BushGreenwatch.

> " Our case

> focused on 54 pesticide cases where EPA had done

> those reviews

> and found there was a problem for fish or their

> habitat -- and

> then done nothing. "

>

> Many other endangered and threatened species are

> further

> imperiled by EPA's failure to regulate pesticides. A

> new report

> from the Center for Biological Diversity notes

> dozens of cases

> -- from California's red-legged frog, to the Barton

> Springs

> salamander of Texas, to wild Atlantic salmon in

> Maine -- in

> which exposure to pesticides is a key factor in the

> species'

> decline. [2]

>

> Although Earthjustice won its case in January, the

> new

> regulations may ultimately undercut its victory,

> because the

> standards for judging pesticide impacts are unclear.

> " EPA will

> be able to do it however they choose. The agencies

> have

> delegated that authority to EPA, " Goldman says,

> " even though in

> the past they found EPA's assessments woefully

> inadequate. "

>

> The new system " is replacing the checks and balances

> that are in

> the consultation process, " she says. " There, you

> have an

> independent, outside agency that's the expert on the

> species,

> weighing in and looking at the impacts. Now, you

> won't have that

> any more. "

>

> For Pacific salmon species, the impact from

> pesticide exposure

> could be subtle but severe. " There's a lot of

> evidence that

> salmon lose their ability to smell. They swim

> backwards, can't

> evade predators, the males turn into females -- all

> sorts of

> things happen, short of killing them, at really low

> doses, " says

> Goldman. " It's just that you won't see all the dead

> bodies lying

> in a pile. "

>

> ###

>

> SOURCES:

> [1] " EPA Will Not Have To Consult Wildlife Agencies

> On

> Pesticides, " The Washington Post, Jul. 30, 2004.

> [2] " Silent Spring Revisited: Pesticide Use and

> Endangered

> Species, " Center for Biological Diversity, Jul.

> 2004,

> http://ga3.org/ct/17zkGk916aD7/.

>

> ***************************************

> :: TELL A FRIEND ABOUT BUSHGREENWATCH

> http://ga3.org/ct/C1zkGk916aDg/

>

> :: READ BACK ISSUES

> http://ga3.org/ct/CpzkGk916aDO/

> ***************************************

>

> BushGreenwatch

> 1320 18th Street NW 5th Floor

> Washington, DC 20036

> (202) 463-6670

> Web site comments: info

>

> Copyright © 2003 Environmental Media Services

> -----------------

>

> If you received this message from a friend, you can

> sign up for

> BushGreenwatch at:

>

>

http://ga3.org/bushgreenwatch/join.html?r=01zkGk91-Q9yE

>

> -----------------

>

> ***************************************

> Powered by GetActive Software, Inc.

> Member Relationship Management Solutions

> That Recruit, Engage, and Retain

> http://www.getactive.com

> ***************************************