The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Friday denied a petition calling for a ban on the production and distribution of lead hunting ammunition. EPA sent a letter to the petitioners explaining the rejection.
Steve Owens, EPA assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, issued the following statement on the agency’s decision:
EPA today denied a petition submitted by several outside groups for the agency to implement a ban on the production and distribution of lead hunting ammunition. EPA reached this decision because the agency does not have the legal authority to regulate this type of product under the Toxic Substances Control Act -- nor is the agency seeking such authority.
This petition, which was submitted to EPA at the beginning of this month, is one of hundreds of petitions submitted to EPA by outside groups each year. This petition was filed under TSCA, which requires the agency to review and respond within 90 days.
EPA is taking action on many fronts to address major sources of lead in our society, such as eliminating childhood exposures to lead; however, EPA was not and is not considering taking action on whether the lead content in hunting ammunition poses an undue threat to wildlife.
As there are no similar jurisdictional issues relating to the agency's authority over fishing sinkers, EPA – as required by law – will continue formally reviewing a second part [of] the petition related to lead fishing sinkers.
Those wishing to comment specifically on the fishing tackle issue can do so by visiting http://www.regulations.gov. EPA will consider comments that are submitted by September 15.
The denial is in response to a petition filed Aug. 3 by several environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, the American Bird Conservancy and the Assn. of Avian Veterinarians, seeking to ban the use of lead in ammunition and fishing tackle. The petition claimed that traditional bullets used by hunters are inconsistent with the Toxic Substance Control Act and that such ammo poses a danger to wildlife, in particular raptors, that may feed on unrecovered game in the field.
-- Kelly Burgess
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2010/08/epa-denies-petition-calling-for-lead-ammunition-ban.html
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The rejection letter is dated 8/27 and written to Michael Fry. It seems like the EPA has made the right decision!
Please note that you still can comment on the fishing weight issue.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
FoxNews Story: EPA Rejects Calls to Ban Lead in Ammo, Fishing Tackle
The Environmental Protection Agency has denied a petition filed by environmental activists seeking to ban lead in ammunition and fishing tackle, saying such regulation is beyond the agency's authority.
The agency's decision, announced Friday shortly after FoxNews.com published its report on the issue, sided with hunters and fishermen who had argued that the such regulations weren't allowed under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.
"EPA is taking action on many fronts to address major sources of lead in our society, such as eliminating childhood exposures to lead," the agency said in a written statement. "However, EPA was not and is not considering taking action on whether the lead content in hunting ammunition poses an undue threat to wildlife."
A coalition of conservation groups had filed its petition earlier this month arguing that the use of lead in ammo and tackle is poisoning the nation's lakes, ponds and forests and asking the EPA to ban the "manufacture, processing and distribution" of lead shot, bullets and fishing.
According to the petitioners, who include the Center for Biological Diversity and the American Bird Conservancy, up to 20 million birds and other animals are killed each year due to lead poisoning in the United States, and at least 75 wild bird species -- including bald eagles, ravens and endangered California condors -- are poisoned by spent lead ammunition. They say roughly 3,000 tons of lead are expelled into U.S. hunting grounds annually, with another 80,000 tons released at shooting ranges, and another 4,000 tons of lead fishing lures and sinkers are lost in ponds and streams.
But sportsmen don't want anyone tinkering with the tools of their trade.
The Toxic Substances Control Act allows the EPA to regulate "chemical substances" under certain circumstances, but Congress explicitly excluded from regulation any article subject to excise taxes -- including pistols, revolvers, firearms, shells and cartridges.
Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, objected to the pettion, saying the conservationists were trying to circumvent this rule by suggesting that while ammunition itself is exempt from regulation, the chemical components of the ammo and fishing lures -- specifically, the lead -- can fall under the EPA's jurisdiction.
But environmental activists like Michael Fry of the American Bird Conservancy told FoxNews.com that the petitioners waited to submit their request until nontoxic alternatives such as steel, copper and alloy became readily available.
"Ammunition itself cannot be regulated [under the Act], but the components itself can be regulated," Fry said in an interview before the EPA's decision was announced. "In other words, you cannot ban ammunition, but you can require nontoxic ammunition. ... We're not trying to ban handgun ammunition. This is strictly a toxicity issue, with lead poisoning wildlife."
FoxNews.com's Joshua Rhett Miller contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/27/epa-rejects-calls-ban-lead-ammo-fishing-tackle/
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Now to be honest, I'm not so sure I believe the EPA. The docket is still on the EPA website and the public comment period is still open. Therefore to me, it seems like they're still considering it, as they must. And we have to make sure that this docket is not made into a regulation.
So please still click that comment link and let the EPA know what you think!
The agency's decision, announced Friday shortly after FoxNews.com published its report on the issue, sided with hunters and fishermen who had argued that the such regulations weren't allowed under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.
"EPA is taking action on many fronts to address major sources of lead in our society, such as eliminating childhood exposures to lead," the agency said in a written statement. "However, EPA was not and is not considering taking action on whether the lead content in hunting ammunition poses an undue threat to wildlife."
A coalition of conservation groups had filed its petition earlier this month arguing that the use of lead in ammo and tackle is poisoning the nation's lakes, ponds and forests and asking the EPA to ban the "manufacture, processing and distribution" of lead shot, bullets and fishing.
According to the petitioners, who include the Center for Biological Diversity and the American Bird Conservancy, up to 20 million birds and other animals are killed each year due to lead poisoning in the United States, and at least 75 wild bird species -- including bald eagles, ravens and endangered California condors -- are poisoned by spent lead ammunition. They say roughly 3,000 tons of lead are expelled into U.S. hunting grounds annually, with another 80,000 tons released at shooting ranges, and another 4,000 tons of lead fishing lures and sinkers are lost in ponds and streams.
But sportsmen don't want anyone tinkering with the tools of their trade.
The Toxic Substances Control Act allows the EPA to regulate "chemical substances" under certain circumstances, but Congress explicitly excluded from regulation any article subject to excise taxes -- including pistols, revolvers, firearms, shells and cartridges.
Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, objected to the pettion, saying the conservationists were trying to circumvent this rule by suggesting that while ammunition itself is exempt from regulation, the chemical components of the ammo and fishing lures -- specifically, the lead -- can fall under the EPA's jurisdiction.
But environmental activists like Michael Fry of the American Bird Conservancy told FoxNews.com that the petitioners waited to submit their request until nontoxic alternatives such as steel, copper and alloy became readily available.
"Ammunition itself cannot be regulated [under the Act], but the components itself can be regulated," Fry said in an interview before the EPA's decision was announced. "In other words, you cannot ban ammunition, but you can require nontoxic ammunition. ... We're not trying to ban handgun ammunition. This is strictly a toxicity issue, with lead poisoning wildlife."
FoxNews.com's Joshua Rhett Miller contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/27/epa-rejects-calls-ban-lead-ammo-fishing-tackle/
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Now to be honest, I'm not so sure I believe the EPA. The docket is still on the EPA website and the public comment period is still open. Therefore to me, it seems like they're still considering it, as they must. And we have to make sure that this docket is not made into a regulation.
So please still click that comment link and let the EPA know what you think!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
National Shooting Sports Foundation's Response
EPA Considering Ban on Traditional Ammunition: ACT NOW!!
All Gun Owners, Hunters, and Shooters:
With the fall hunting season fast approaching, the Environmental Protectino Agency (EPA) under Lisa Jackson, who was responsible for banning bear huntering in New Jersey, is now considering a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) - a leading anti-hunting organization - to ban all traditional ammunition under the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976, a law in which Congress expressly exempted ammunition. If the EPA approves the petition, the result will be a total ban on all aummunitino containing lead-core components, including hunting and target-shooting rounds. The EPA must decide to accept of reject this petition by November 1, 2010, the day before the midterm elections.
Today, the EPA had opened to public comment the CBD petition. The comment period ends on October 31, 2010.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- the trade association for the firearms, ammuntion, hunting and shooting sports industry -- urges you to submit comment to the EPA opposing any ban on tradition ammunition. Remember, your right to choose the ammunitino you hunt and shoot with is at stake.
The EPA has published the petition and relevant supplemental information as Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-0681. If you would like to read the originial petition and see the contects of this docket folder, please click here. In order to go directly to the 'sumbit a comment' page for this docket number, please click here.
NSSF urges you to stress the following in your opposition:
*There is no scientific evidence that the use of traditional ammunition is having an adverse impact on wildlife populations.
*Wildlife management is the proper jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and the 50 state wildlife agencies.
*1 2008 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on bloof lead levels of North Dakota hunters confirmed that consuming game harvested with traditional ammunition does not pose a human health risk.
*A ban on traditional ammunition would have a negative impact on wildlife conservation. The federal excise tax that manufacturers pay on the sale of the ammunition (11 percent) is a primary source of wildlife conservation funding. The bald eagle's recovery, considered to be a great conservation success story, was made possible and funded by hunters using traditional ammunition - the very ammuntion organizations like the CBD are now demonizing.
*Recent statistics from the United States Fish and Wildlife Serives show that from 1981 to 2006 the number of breeding pairs of bald eagles in the United States increase 724 percent. And much like the bald eagle, raptor populations throughout the United States are soaring.
Steps to take:
1. Sumbit comment online to the EPA.
2. Contact Lisa Jackson directly to voice your opposition to the ban:
Lisa P. Jackson
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 564-4700
Fax: (202) 501-1450
E-mail: jackson.lisa@epa.gov
3. Contact your congressman and senators and urge them to stop the EPA from banning ammunition. To view a sample letter, click here.
All Gun Owners, Hunters, and Shooters:
With the fall hunting season fast approaching, the Environmental Protectino Agency (EPA) under Lisa Jackson, who was responsible for banning bear huntering in New Jersey, is now considering a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) - a leading anti-hunting organization - to ban all traditional ammunition under the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976, a law in which Congress expressly exempted ammunition. If the EPA approves the petition, the result will be a total ban on all aummunitino containing lead-core components, including hunting and target-shooting rounds. The EPA must decide to accept of reject this petition by November 1, 2010, the day before the midterm elections.
Today, the EPA had opened to public comment the CBD petition. The comment period ends on October 31, 2010.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- the trade association for the firearms, ammuntion, hunting and shooting sports industry -- urges you to submit comment to the EPA opposing any ban on tradition ammunition. Remember, your right to choose the ammunitino you hunt and shoot with is at stake.
The EPA has published the petition and relevant supplemental information as Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-0681. If you would like to read the originial petition and see the contects of this docket folder, please click here. In order to go directly to the 'sumbit a comment' page for this docket number, please click here.
NSSF urges you to stress the following in your opposition:
*There is no scientific evidence that the use of traditional ammunition is having an adverse impact on wildlife populations.
*Wildlife management is the proper jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and the 50 state wildlife agencies.
*1 2008 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on bloof lead levels of North Dakota hunters confirmed that consuming game harvested with traditional ammunition does not pose a human health risk.
*A ban on traditional ammunition would have a negative impact on wildlife conservation. The federal excise tax that manufacturers pay on the sale of the ammunition (11 percent) is a primary source of wildlife conservation funding. The bald eagle's recovery, considered to be a great conservation success story, was made possible and funded by hunters using traditional ammunition - the very ammuntion organizations like the CBD are now demonizing.
*Recent statistics from the United States Fish and Wildlife Serives show that from 1981 to 2006 the number of breeding pairs of bald eagles in the United States increase 724 percent. And much like the bald eagle, raptor populations throughout the United States are soaring.
Steps to take:
1. Sumbit comment online to the EPA.
2. Contact Lisa Jackson directly to voice your opposition to the ban:
Lisa P. Jackson
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 564-4700
Fax: (202) 501-1450
E-mail: jackson.lisa@epa.gov
3. Contact your congressman and senators and urge them to stop the EPA from banning ammunition. To view a sample letter, click here.
Petition to the Environmental Protection Agency to Ban Lead Shot, Bullets, and Fishing Sinkers Under the Toxic Substances Control Act
Calling all gun owners, freedom lovers, and Americans!
The second admendment is under attack yet again. The EPA has decided to take gun control into their own hands. If they can't take away our guns, they'll just take our ammo.
It's time to stand up for our rights. I'm throwing this blog together to try and keep all important links, developments, and information in one (hopefully organized) location.
The public comment period is open from 8/25 utninl 10/31. So please speak up in support of our freedoms. Here is the link to comment on this docket. That link, as well as others, are available on the right hand side of this blog.
Also if you have found something important that needs to be posted, feel free to comment below or contact me and I will get it up asap!
The second admendment is under attack yet again. The EPA has decided to take gun control into their own hands. If they can't take away our guns, they'll just take our ammo.
It's time to stand up for our rights. I'm throwing this blog together to try and keep all important links, developments, and information in one (hopefully organized) location.
The public comment period is open from 8/25 utninl 10/31. So please speak up in support of our freedoms. Here is the link to comment on this docket. That link, as well as others, are available on the right hand side of this blog.
Also if you have found something important that needs to be posted, feel free to comment below or contact me and I will get it up asap!
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