Hit hard with criticism about its environmental record, the Bush administration for the second day in a row let stand an environmental rule approved by former President Clinton and upheld a plan affecting industry’s lead emissions. The decision, announced yesterday by U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman, means that companies will be required to report emissions of as little as 100 pounds of lead a year compared to the current threshold of 10,000 pounds. In an unusual move, President Bush had Whitman make her the announcement from the White House briefing room and he released a statement of his own in support of the rule. In a not-unusual move, the National Federation of Independent Businesses said it would sue to block enforcement of the rule.
