New nominees for top spots at EPA worry enviros

The Senate last night confirmed President Bush’s pick for the No. 2 slot at EPA — Marcus Peacock, most recently a number-cruncher at the Office of Management and Budget, responsible for determining whether the cost of environmental regulations is justified by their benefit to the U.S. economy. Some activists are queasy about him, recalling that Peacock played a role in freezing Clinton-era regulations on arsenic in drinking water and protections for roadless areas of national forests. And that’s not the only personnel shuffling at EPA that’s making enviros nervous. Muckraker examines the new crop of EPA higher-ups.