-Caveat Lector- (GW Bush is an insignificant 'twerp'.) Friday July 27 10:31 PM ET House Backs Tougher Rule on Arsenic By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a rebuff to President Bush (news - web sites), the Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Friday to require the Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites) to implement a tough standard against arsenic in tap water that the administration had delayed. Voting 218-189, lawmakers backed an amendment pushed by Democrats to force the EPA to impose a standard set in the waning days of the Clinton administration that would sharply lower levels of cancer-causing arsenic in drinking water. ``When you turn on the kitchen sink, you ought to be able to drink what's coming out without worrying about being poisoned,'' said House Democratic Whip David Bonior of Michigan. After 25 years of reviews, Bonior said it was time to tighten the standard ``to get us into compliance with the rest of the civilized world that recognizes the poisonous and terrible effect that arsenic has on the human body.'' The vote was the latest in a series of jabs by the House at Bush's environmental and energy policies. Democrats and some moderate Republicans say the policies are too pro-industry. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman said in a statement she was disappointed that the House ``decided to prejudge the outcome of this issue.'' Since water districts will have until 2006 to meet a revised standard, Whitman said this measure ``will not put a standard in place any sooner than planned under EPA's science-based approach.'' The vote came as the House plowed through amendments on a $112.6 billion bill to fund veterans and housing programs, the EPA and various independent agencies for the 2002 fiscal year starting on Oct. 1. The House was expected to complete the bill on Monday. The Democratic- led Senate has not yet taken up its version. ``I think the prospects in the Senate are rather good,'' said Grant Cope, staff attorney with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. ``This was a clear statement that people don't want arsenic in their water.'' Nineteen House Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the measure. In a move applauded by environmental and health advocates, the EPA last January under former President Bill Clinton set a standard reducing allowable arsenic in drinking water to 10 parts per billion from 50 parts per billion. TOO MUCH ARSENIC The National Academy of Sciences (news - web sites) has said the 50 parts per billion rule, among the highest in developed countries, permits unacceptably high levels of the carcinogen. Some 13 million people in this country drink water with more than 10 parts per billion arsenic, according to EPA figures. Critics said the new standard would impose unreasonable burdens on many water districts, particularly small rural ones in the west where naturally occurring levels of arsenic from the volcanic soil may exceed it. The Bush White House suspended the tougher arsenic standard, along with a number of other rules issued late in the Clinton administration, saying it needed more review. Environmental groups have sued the EPA, accusing it of unlawfully reversing the Clinton rule and ignoring a June 22 deadline set by Congress for new standards. They accused Bush of bowing to industries including hard rock mining that produces arsenic waste and wood preservers that use arsenic in pressure- treated wood. But some Republicans said the new rule might backfire. ``We do know if you set that standard so low you will force rural water systems to close and you will go back to having untreated water from wells,'' said Rep. Heather Wilson (news - bio - voting record) of New Mexico. Environmentalists lost on another issue in the bill as lawmakers rejected 214- 182 an amendment pushed by Democrats to beef up federal enforcement of environmental laws. Democrats unsuccessfully tried to block the administration from shifting money out of EPA enforcement into state grants, a move the White House said was needed because states do most of the inspections and enforcement. Democrats said Bush's plan would cut 270 EPA personnel to parcel out responsibility to states that they said have a checkered record of cracking down on polluters. Steve Wingate, Webmaster ANOMALOUS IMAGES AND UFO FILES http://www.anomalous-images.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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