Bush EPA Watch: Weakening Smog Regs; Waxman Subpoenas

It seems that every week the agency officially known as the Environmental Protection Agency acts more like the Environmental Polluters Agency. The EPA under the Bush Administration has focused on weakening regulations, over the objections of experts, and defending those who believe that saving the environment is simply bad economics.

Easing Proposed Smog Rules

Every five years the EPA is supposed to revise its limits on smog-forming ozone depending on whether current standards are adequate. About a year ago the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee unanimously recommended that the standard for ozone be lowered to 60 parts per billion, but certainly no more than 70 parts per billion. Ozone, which is formed by certain pollutants released by industry and motor vehicles, is a major factor in respiratory illnesses. So the EPA, being pressure by the White House, especially the Office of Management and Budget, forced the EPA to have limits at 75 parts per billion. Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post has done the best reporting on the topic, and she examined memos and documents that showed that the White House was annoyed that they couldn't use costs as a factor when determining the acceptable levels. She notes the consequences of the different standards:

EPA and other scientists have shown that ozone has a direct impact on rates of heart and respiratory disease and resulting premature deaths. The agency calculates that the new standard of 75 ppb would prevent 1,300 to 3,500 premature deaths a year, whereas 65 ppb would avoid 3,000 to 9,200 deaths annually.

There are two standards for ozone — one for health, and one for public welfare. The OMB justified the standard as merely bringing the two different standards in line. To be fair, the standrd that is being replaced is 84 parts per billion, so the new standard is stricter, but the scientific community obviously believed that an even tighter standard was necessary. Eilperin explains that documents illustrate that Bush himself intervened to adopt the weaker new guidelines.

"It is unprecedented and an unlawful act of political interference for the president personally to override a decision that the Clean Air Act leaves exclusively to EPA's expert scientific judgment," said John Walke, clean-air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The president's order prompted a scramble by administration officials to rewrite the regulations to avoid a conflict with past EPA statements on the harm caused by ozone.

When the Solicitor general warned the Administration that the regulations as defined by OMB would run counter to previous arguments the Administration has made to teh Supreme Court, instead of backtracking, the Administration got their lawyers to work overtime to create new justifications that were more in line with previous arguments.

As it has for the past seven years, the Bush Administration has sided with polluters over the scientific community and the health of American citizens.

Waxman issues Subpoenas on Not Allowing California Greenhouse Gas Plan

As mentioned in an earlier blog posting, the EPA made the unprecedented decision to not allow California to implement its own plan to limit greenhouse gases from cars and trucks. Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee has blasted the Bush Administration on this decision and has issued a subpoena to get the Administration to turn over documents regarding the EPA's decision.

"These documents must be provided to the committee because they are relevant to the examination of the administration's decision to reject California's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles," Waxman said. "The desire to conceal embarrassing facts is not a valid legal basis for withholding these documents from the committee."

The politicization of the EPA knows no bounds.

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