CNSNews.com
EPA Now Accepting Public Comment on Petition to Ban Lead in Ammunition and Fishing Tackle
Thursday, August 26, 2010
By Susan Jones, Senior Editor http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/71705________________________
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(CNSNews.com) – Environmental activists are pressing the Obama administration to ban the manufacture, processing and distribution lead shot, bullets, and fishing sinkers under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, but hunting and Second Amendment groups say the EPA lacks the authority to do so, for starters.
A petition submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 3 says ammunition and tackle manufacturers are now marketing a wide variety of non-lead, nontoxic bullets, shotgun pellets and fishing tackle, which can and should be used instead of lead projectiles and weights.
“There is no technological or commercial reason why nontoxic ammunition and fishing tackle with comparable effectiveness should not be substituted for their lead counterparts,” the petition says.
Petition signatories include the Center for Biological Diversity, American Bird Conservancy, Association of Avian Veterinarians, Project Gutpile, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
The environmental activist groups note that the EPA is specifically prohibited from regulating ammunition or firearms under the Toxic Substances Control Act. But, the groups argue, “toxic components of ammunition can be regulated if nontoxic alternatives are commercially available.”
The petitioners said they have been waiting for nontoxic alternatives to become available “in an effort to clearly indicate that this petition is not an attempt to regulate ammunition or firearms.”
The National Rifle Association’s lobbying arm says the Toxic Substances Control Act “does not grant EPA the authority to regulate ammunition of any composition.”
It rejected the petition's suggestion that the EPA "should in effect divide shells and cartridges into their constituent parts and find that each separate component of a shell or cartridge falls under its jurisdiction."
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry, said if the EPA approves the petition, the result will be a total ban on all ammunition containing lead-core components.
“[Y]our right to choose the ammunition you hunt and shoot with is at stake,” the NSSF said in an Aug. 25 message to all gun owners, hunters and shooters.
The trade group argues there is no scientific evidence showing that the use of traditional ammunition is having an adverse impact on wildlife populations. In fact, the NSSF notes that bald eagle and raptor populations throughout the United States are soaring.
The NSSF also argues that a ban on traditional ammunition would have a negative impact on wildlife conservation, which falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the 50 state wildlife agencies. The 11 percent federal excise tax that manufacturers pay on the sale of the ammunition is a primary source of wildlife conservation funding.
The NSSF is urging those opposed to the “anti-hunting” petition to submit comments online to the EPA or to contact EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson directly.
The public comment period opened on Aug. 25 and ends on October 31. The EPA must decide whether to accept or reject the petition by November 1, 2010, the day before the midterm election.
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