Industry coalition slams Superfund

Abstract

According to EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner, the natural evolution of environmental policy requires that this country commander appropriate economic tools to encourage pollution prevention, and move to a holistic approach to environmental protection. To foster a new way of thinking, Browner is seeking dialogues with affected industries and communities, and other interested parties. She also intends to carry on discussions with other relevant government agencies. Browner plans to strengthen and build on the enforcement arena. Pollution prevention won't be easy. Another thrust of Browner's effort is to have her agency look at everything they do in terms of how it impacts the ecosystem. Once EPA remembers what the laws were meant to accomplish, it can easily be guided by one goal - the maintenance of the balance among the air, water, land, and between the human population and the animal population. The US will probably not do away with the existing, narrowly focused laws - one, for example, centered on air, another on water, and still another on hazardous waste. But the goal of an agency like EPA should be to look across these various laws to see how they can be integrated into a more meaningful regulatory scheme,more » an environmental protection plan.« less