Kentucky environmental attorney Sanders says EPA is asking for public input on effects of hazardous waste recycling on the poor.

EPA is requesting public input on a draft plan for assessing the potential impacts of its hazardous waste recycling rule on low-income, minority and tribal populations. To encourage safe recycling and to help conserve natural resources, EPA’s Definition of Solid Waste (“DSW”) rule published in October of 2008, modified the regulations for hazardous materials that are recycled, also known as hazardous secondary materials.

This was a Bush Administration rule, so it is not good for poor folks.  EPA is trying to reach out to stakeholders, including the environmental justice community, requesting public comment before the analysis begins. Lessons learned from the analysis of the DSW rule will also be used to inform EPA’s ongoing effort to strengthen the consideration of environmental justice in rulemakings.

EPA will discuss the draft methodology with the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) at its national public meeting and host a roundtable to gain public input on the draft methodology. Both meetings are scheduled to be held on January 28, 2010, in New Orleans, La.  EPA at NOLA seems an odd choice to me.  NOLA might just have too much temptation, too much alcohol and too many cameras for a federal agency under seige from the right.

Thus, a second public roundtable meeting will be held on February 23, 2010 at EPA’s Potomac Yard Conference Center in Arlington, Va., and an online public roundtable will be held on February 25, 2010. The public may also submit written comments on the draft methodology until March 15, 2010.

For more information, go to: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/dsw/ej.htm