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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sylvester80 who wrote (454238)	9/7/2003 9:30:07 PM
From: sylvester80	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

CRIMINAL NEWS: Bush lifts ban on selling land polluted with PCBs [ed: IMPEACH THAT CRIMINAL SOB KILLER OF AMERICANS NOW!!!] theolympian.com GANNETT NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has ended a 25-year-old ban on the sale of land polluted with PCBs. The ban was intended to prevent hundreds of polluted sites from being redeveloped in ways that spread the toxin or raise public health risks. The Environmental Protection Agency decided that the ban was "an unnecessary barrier to redevelopment (and) may actually delay the clean-up of contaminated properties," according to an internal memo that was issued last month to advise agency staff of the change. The decision, which took effect Aug. 14, has not been made public. It is being treated as a "new interpretation" of existing law, according to the memo. As such, no public comment was required. Some EPA officials who monitor PCB sites say that the policy change could make it difficult to track the sale of polluted land, ensure that buyers don't inadvertently spread the toxin or build on the land until it has been cleaned up. The decision also is likely to anger environmental groups and their congressional allies, who have criticized the Bush administration for easing environmental rules to promote development. The policy change opens a door for sales of property fouled with one of the most widespread pollutants of the post-World War II era. EPA officials and other experts estimate that more than 1,000 pieces of property across the nation are contaminated. About 500 of the EPA's 1,598 Superfund sites, the nation's most polluted, contain PCBs. "I see real problems with the EPA and state agencies not having resources or personnel, especially in today's budget climate, to monitor these properties if they start getting transferred," said Sean Hecht, who runs UCLA's Environmental Law Center. The ban on sales "provided leverage to force people to clean up these sites." The government considers PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, to be probable cause of cancer in people. Congress banned their sale and use in 1978. The law has long been interpreted as prohibiting the sale of polluted property unless it had been cleaned up. The new interpretation was developed under EPA General Counsel Robert Fabricant, who issued the Aug. 14 memo informing EPA staff. He resigned the same day. Advocates of the change say it simply aims to resolve cases in which potential buyers want to clean up PCB-fouled sites that now are owned by people who lack the money or ability to do it. "The new owner inherits responsibility for clean-up," said EPA lawyer Bob Perlis, who helped draft the new interpretation. But the EPA already allowed its regional offices to waive the ban on selling PCB-contaminated land when a buyer is willing to clean it up. Regional officials say that process slowed the transfer of a few properties but had generally worked.