To: President Donald Trump
Help Make Recycling Healthy
I support the EPA's recognition of the need to reinstate safeguards necessary to protect the health and environment of millions of Americans, particularly those in communities of color and low-income communities. Therefore I urge the administration to publish a final Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) Rule.
It is well past time and further delay is unacceptable. While I highly commend your reconsideration of the 2008 DSW Rule that deregulated hazardous waste recycling and firmly support EPA's historic environmental justice analysis, your delay in issuing a final rule is exacting a high toll on our nation's most vulnerable communities. It has been four years since publication of a proposed rule, and the EPA is in violation of a settlement agreement that required a final rule on December 31, 2012. Please ensure that this important rule receives the priority it deserves so that the safety of the nation's most vulnerable communities can be ensured now and for future generations.
Why is this important?
Everyday, millions of Americans, particularly in communities of color and low-income communities, face danger from hazardous waste recycling and reclamation.
The Bush administration exempted thousands of these facilities—predominantly located in the nation’s most vulnerable communities—from safety requirements mandated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The safeguards protect all Americans from exposure to toxic chemicals, and with your help can be reinstated by a new EPA rule under review by the Office of Management and Budget.
Tell President Obama to protect those living just miles or even yards away from refineries, scrap metal yards, chemical plants, smelters, battery recyclers, mines and other facilities that reclaim and recycle hazardous waste. Ask the President to finalize the rule proposed by EPA to reinstate safeguards against dangerous recycling of hazardous waste.
The 90-day review period has passed. Now it’s time for the EPA to act.
Please ask President Obama to finalize a rule so strong that it doesn’t just change lives, but saves them.