A Victory to Celebrate

On Friday, August 17, Judge Richard Webber denied a motion by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Missouri Coalition for the Environment vs. U.S. EPA, a case in which we successfully challenged the federal agency for failing to meet its statutory obligations under the Clean Air Act. The ruling in the lawsuit, a 2005 Coalition victory, required the EPA to conduct a mandatory 5-year review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for the toxic metal lead to ensure that the standard has kept pace with research on health and environmental affects of lead.

The EPA had not updated the standard since it was set in 1978 and had not reviewed it in 14 years. In the intervening decades, health researchers have documented harmful effects of lead at lower and lower levels of exposure and the Centers for Disease Control had lowered the level at which a person is considered "poisoned." It is now known that there is no safe level of exposure for lead.

The court ordered, three-year review of the lead NAAQS was well underway this spring when the EPA decided it wanted to deviate from the court-ordered process. The EPA proposed a new process that would prevent the staff scientists and the independent scientific advisory committee from presenting policy recommendations for public comment until those recommendations had first been filtered through agency management - high level political appointees. The EPA filed a motion requesting the deviation and the Coalition vigorously opposed it. Friday's ruling was a victory for the Coalition and for solid science.

Special thanks to the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at Washington University School of Law for its excellent representation in this case, and to our co-plaintiffs, Leslie and Jack Warden.

The next phase of the NAAQS review will be the review of the risk assessment later this month, followed by the November 1 release of the Final Staff Paper. The final rule must be in place by September 1, 2008.

Thank you for your support of the Coalition that makes victories like these possible.

Ever timely, here is a short piece on lead in the New York Times that sums it up, Kathleen Logan Smith Missouri Coalition for the Environment.