Sen. Barack Obama said Friday he will block all of President Bush's nominees to key positions in the Environmental Protection Agency until it issues long-overdue regulations limiting people's exposure to lead paint from house remodeling.
WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama said Friday he will block all of President Bush's nominees to key positions in the Environmental Protection Agency until it issues long-overdue regulations limiting people's exposure to lead paint from house remodeling.
EPA spokeswoman Eryn Witcher said the agency will issue the regulations before the end of the year. Obama's office said the senator will reconsider if he gets a promise from EPA in writing. Senate rules and privileges effectively allow any senator to block a nomination.
The Illinois Democrat's decision has the immediate effect of preventing Susan Bodine, a staff director and lawyer for a House subcommittee, from becoming an assistant administrator in charge of EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
The office oversees the Superfund program for cleaning up the nation's worst toxic messes as well as emergency cleanups from hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
Nearly 5 million households carry the risk of lead exposure if home repairs and renovations aren't carried out carefully, EPA says. About 1.4 million children under the age of 7 could be affected.
!ADVERTISEMENT!
"Even one child impacted by lead is one child too many, which is why we are working on the rule to ensure that children will not be exposed to unsafe levels of lead when their homes are being renovated," Witcher said.
Congress ordered EPA in 1992 to issue regulations by October 1996 governing home renovations or remodeling that involve tearing out ceilings, walls and other fixtures covered with lead-based paint. The Clinton and Bush administrations never issued them.
Before settling on the regulatory route, the Bush administration last year looked at asking home renovation and remodeling companies to adopt protective practices voluntarily, at the urging of Stephen Johnson, then the deputy administrator and now head of EPA.
According to an EPA analysis, the regulations would produce an economic benefit of at least $2.73 billion a year. But they also would add an average $116 to a homeowner's costs for interior renovations and an average $42 for exterior work.
Obama had earlier threatened to block Marcus Peacock, Bush's nominee for EPA's No. 2 position, but decided against the tactic after the agency promised to complete the regulations by the end of this year. However, he said an EPA official told him this week the agency wouldn't meet that deadline.
"I find it unbelievable that the EPA would continue to drag its feet despite the fact that their own analysis found that these rules could prevent 28,000 lead-related illnesses each year," Obama said.
Source: Associated Press
Contact Info:
