OCR Text |
Show ' hii '" 1 111 11111111 1111 minimi inn, i, I1IIIIHI Western Resources WRAP-UP , nil""" i""HMintnN(niuiuMi4uniiiiilinnlnlniiHtni.,ni,,,,,Jllunilll,,,,,,,llllJ1JUJJIllllHlin EPA after Burford BV twit'"' C MonbtTj; ' Vernal Kpress S'ashin$ton Correspondent .huj;ion-What's in store for the riwronm"iual Prelection Agency jp.V mw that the contro ersial Anno vi Burfiinl his resigned as chief of tho er.iUttUvl a-ncy. as of March 9'.' N U h,r ttie Administration and Dr. ' jvh'nW Hernandez. Jr., tho caretaker s t-umstr.itor and former deputy to Mrs. Ralord, to try to get the agency back to o xiso look for a changing of tho top' heads of the S.JoOemployee nation, as new appointees bring in t,4ir own people- That's tho word from p insiders and Capitol Hill watchers. The Congressional probes into EPA ,.! Continue, of course, tho the number - 6 expected to decrease from a ha If dozen ;o wo or three. Chairman Mike Synar, Mil . of the Environmental. Energy iiJ Natural Resources Subcommittee of House Government Operations Committee toM the press after Mrs. Bur-vrd Bur-vrd quit on March 9, "Mrs. Burford's iitMrture is not the issue. The issue is i operation of EPA and the implemen-ation implemen-ation of our environmental laws." He fins to continue his subcommittee pro- y into charges of mismanagement and -vluical manipulation of the EPA uperfund" in clean-up of hazardous ;:es. -EVxi't look for Dr. Hernandez to make r.v controversial decisions," an EPA i:certo!d Western Resources Wrap-up WRW) on March 14. The new acting EFA administrator is a low-key en-i-x.'ner.tal engineer and educator from ENe Mexico, where he is the former iaof New Mexico State L'niversity. He as been in charge of the water and .-search activities of the agency, and he woid like to be named EPA ad-riii-jator by President Reagan. He sex1:! the same post tw o years ago. w iih sncs backing form Sen. Pete Domenici. KNM.. the chairman of the influential fca:e Budget Committee. S:t Arje Burford. then .Anne Gorsuch. iiiifce backing of Joseph Coors of the Aiupfc Coors Co. of Denver and Golden. Ci. and many Mountain States conserves, conser-ves, and her political credentials xrieighed those of Hernandez with the - irisiaixi So the former Colorado f- kite legislator and former Denver at- xy beat out Hernandez for the top "- 5?A post even tho she had few en-- TCmer.ial credentials, and her op- - j::rn!s claimed she was anti-:""--onment. - -J -ty chance that Hernandez might get i- ixrsanent appointment as EPA chief vwared to vanish on March 15 when v &Tsan James H. Scheuer. D-N.V.. of is House Natural Resources. . Ar.cu!ture Research and Environment 2 committee of the Science and 2 'tuaologj- Committee released infor-2 infor-2 that Hernandez had allowed Dow rt .- '-Epical Co. to make changes in a 1981 -,- EPA report blaming Dow for dioxin rs aanination in two rivers in Michigan. In effect, Hernandez admitted the charges, tho ho downplayed them. The charges make him "dead in the water" as permanent EPA head, an EPA insider told WHYS' on March ltl. Dioxin is a poi-sionous poi-sionous chemical used in the manufacture manufac-ture of herbicides. Last month EPA announced an-nounced it will buy the homes of 2.400 residents of the town of Times Beach, Mo., because dioxin was used in street paving, and its levels there are regarded regard-ed as too high for human health. LEGISLATION TOUGH DECISIONS HELD UP While EPA continues under siege, it is unlikely to bo able to work out extensions of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act pertaining to hazardous wastes at sites now in operation. All expired ex-pired last year. Also up for extension is the Sale Drinking Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Eederal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, on which the Administration will seek a simple extension, according to EPA sources. Among the controversial divisions that must await now, assured leadership at EPA are the following: -Whether to allow more days that carbon car-bon monoxide and particulate matter can exceed the national ambient air quality standards i.NAAQS). -What to do about the 111 areas which failed to comply w ith these standards by Dec. 31. Ii2, as required by the Clean Air Act. -What to do about ocean dumping a policy decision that w ill become increasingly increas-ingly urgent if the Administration pushes for a new program to deepen and widen deep water ports. Regulations must be promulgated on this. -Issue regulations to require liability insurance for hazardous waste sites. -How to control dioxin. -Issue regulations to cover toxic pollutants under the best available technology (BATi economically achieveable, as required under the Clean YYater Act. Only about one-third have been issued for 34 major industry groups to treat 65 classes of toxic pollutants, as of this date. -YVhether to permit the use of Compound Com-pound 1080 on private land to kill coyotes. This is a controversial pesticide whose use was permitted on federal land last year after a ban imposed by President Nixon was partially lifted. -SS"hether to limit the use cf ethylene dibromide. one of the few effective pesticides in controlling med-flies. but also highly controversial. -S"hether to allow the re-registration of 245-T, Agent Orange, a controversial herbicide her-bicide used to control weeds along roads and highways. -How to control lead levels in SVest Dallas, w here a housing project is close to an old lead smelter. |