EPA on lead-ammunition ban: Never mind

[darrels joy]

EPA on lead-ammunition ban: Never mind

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posted at 9:30 pm on August 27, 2010 by Ed Morrissey


Not that this was going anywhere anyway, but someone at the EPA must have gotten a few phone calls about their open comment period on this truly screwy idea from either the White House, Congressional leadership, or perhaps both. Just two days ago, the EPA announced that they would take comments until the end of October as to whether they agreed that lead-based ammunition and fishing sinkers amounted to such a dire threat to the environment that the EPA should ban both. Looks like they heard enough comments, at least on ammunition:

Responding to a grassroots outcry from gun owners, the Environmental Protection Agency today announced that it has denied a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity and other radical groups that had sought to ban the use of lead in ammunition.

Agreeing with the position of the NRA and the firearms industry, the agency explained in a news release that it “does not have the legal authority to regulate this type of product under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).” Further crushing the hopes of anti-gun and anti-hunting activists, the release added: “nor is the agency seeking such authority.”

“It’s outrageous that this petition even went this far,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA-ILA Executive Director. “We applaud the EPA for its understanding of the law and its common sense in this situation — both of which were totally missing in the petition filed by these extreme anti-gun and anti-hunting groups.”

Because the EPA has no power to regulate ammunition, it will not move ahead with a public comment period on the petition. However, a comment period will remain open until September 15 on the other part of the petition, which asks EPA to ban the use of lead in fishing sinkers.

Be sure to watch for more coverage of this important victory in next week’s Grassroots Alert and in NRA’s magazines.

It is an important victory, mainly from the EPA’s own admission that ammunition is outside their jurisdictional reach. Otherwise, this just brings an issue to the end it inevitably faced sooner or later. Had the EPA pursued this in this electoral cycle, they would have risked inspiring a bipartisan effort to defund the agency, which a Republican House may do anyway to stop enforcement of their ridiculous carbon-dioxide endangerment finding.

If the EPA actually thought this would make a great trial balloon, they found yet another use for lead.

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/08/2...an-never-mind/

[1CAVCCO15MED]

Here is what Ducks Unlimited has compiled about lead shot:

LEAD POISONING

Lead poisoning, which occurs when waterfowl ingest spent lead shot, is a unique disease because it is caused entirely by humans. Ingestion of just a few pellets can cause death, and in some cases, a single pellet may prove lethal. At one time, an estimated 3,000 tons of lead shot were being deposited by hunters in North American wetlands each year, and the number of spent pellets in some wetlands averaged nearly 70,000 per hectare. Within the United States alone, historic annual losses of waterfowl from lead poisoning were estimated at between 1.6 million and 2.4 million birds. Afflicted birds often take several weeks to die and are characterized by an unwillingness to fly, “roof-shaped” wings, severe emaciation, including a condition known as “hatchet breast,” and bright green staining around the vent. While some lead hot spots remain and periodic die-offs still occur, the introduction of nontoxic shot has curtailed lead shot deposition in North American wetlands and has become a viable long-term solution to lead poisoning.

While it is unclear how many North American waterfowl actually succumb to disease each year, it is clear that continued wetlands loss will force larger numbers of waterfowl into a smaller number of suitable areas, increasing their risk for exposure to pathogens and major disease outbreaks. Through habitat conservation programs, Ducks Unlimited is working to minimize waterfowl losses to disease and ensure a healthier future for North American ducks and geese.

Dr. John M. Coluccy is a regional biologist and Nathan Pfost is a conservation intern at DU’s Great Lakes/Atlantic office in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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Non-toxic shot for waterfowl hunting has been the law most everywhere for some years now.

[1CAVCCO15MED]

It is the first time I ever heard of Ducks Unlimited being called a radical group. I guess Donald and Daffy would think it was, though. The NRA seems to me to being gone wacko Between that and fighting efforts to deny firearms purchases for persons on the no-fly list. And what is with them worrying about sinkers? I guess they put it under the right to throw lead.