Bush Admin. to Eliminate Pesticide Regulations It Doesn’t Obey
The provision of the Endangered Species Act that requires the U.S. EPA to consult with two other federal agencies when licensing new pesticides will be formally abandoned, if the Bush administration has its way. Government officials concede that the provision — meant to involve the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service in every pesticide review to ensure that endangered species won’t be harmed by new chemicals — has been informally ignored for years. Proposed new regulations would officially let the government off the hook for what it long has neglected to do. The regs would presume that the EPA’s analysis of new pesticides is good enough. Inspired by this innovative approach, Grist‘s editors are going to urge our bosses to abandon the “clean the fridge every Friday” rule, since we never do it anyway.
