Eighteen of Americas most prominent environmental organizations express deep concerns about the Bush Administrations approach towards implementing the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Poll

Eighteen environmental organizations issued a statement on April 19, 2004, urging U.S. congressional leaders to reject the Bush Administration's proposed amendments to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for implementing the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The organizations argue that the proposed legislation fails to provide the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with effective authority to ban additional POPs pesticides and introduces burdensome regulatory requirements that contradict the treaty's precautionary principles.

• The signatory organizations argue that the Bush Administration's proposed FIFRA amendments would deny the EPA effective authority to ban or restrict additional POPs pesticides, even those added to the treaty through a science-based process and supported by the United States. They claim the EPA would be limited to using existing FIFRA cancellation procedures, which they describe as slow and cumbersome.
• The organizations oppose the inclusion of new cost-benefit analysis, "peer review," and "generally accepted scientific principles" requirements in the FIFRA legislation, asserting these were introduced by the Office of Management and Budget to make it more difficult for agencies to protect public health and the environment, thereby contradicting the precautionary nature of the Stockholm Convention.
• The statement challenges the Administration's legal theory that mandatory notice and comment provisions in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) amendments infringe upon the President's treaty-making powers. The organizations cite analyses by the Center for International Environmental Law and the Congressional Research Service to claim this theory has no foundation in U.S. law.
• The organizations propose three alternative principles for implementing legislation: requiring the EPA to use the Food Quality Protection Act's "reasonable certainty of no harm" health-based standard for POPs and PBTs; making Stockholm Convention decisions supported by the U.S. the default for domestic regulation; and ensuring the U.S. regulatory process parallels the international decision-making process.
• The document describes Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) as toxic chemicals that bioaccumulate in food chains and persist in the environment, noting that indigenous communities in the Arctic region are exposed to especially high levels due to pollutants migrating via wind and water currents.

APA

Wodder, R. R., Clapp, P., Blackwelder, B., Passacantando, J., Jr., D. B. M., Musil, R. K., Moore, M., Cook, K., Karpinski, G., Schlickeisen, R., Krupp, F., Callahan, D., Pope, C., Sharpless, A., Fuller, K. S., Rufe, R. T., Beinecke, F., & Schweiger, L. (2004). Eighteen of Americas most prominent environmental organizations express deep concerns about the Bush Administrations approach towards implementing the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Poll. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/news/eighteen-of-americas-most-prominent-environmental-organizations-express-deep-concerns-about-the-bush-administrations-approach-towards-implementing-the-stockholm-convention-on-persistent-organic-poll/

Chicago

Wodder, Rebecca R., Phil Clapp, Brent Blackwelder, John Passacantando, Daniel B. Magraw, Jr., Robert K. Musil, Monica Moore, et al. Eighteen of Americas most prominent environmental organizations express deep concerns about the Bush Administrations approach towards implementing the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Poll. Center for International Environmental Law, 2004. https://www.ciel.org/news/eighteen-of-americas-most-prominent-environmental-organizations-express-deep-concerns-about-the-bush-administrations-approach-towards-implementing-the-stockholm-convention-on-persistent-organic-poll/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Wodder |first1=Rebecca R. |last2=Clapp |first2=Phil |last3=Blackwelder |first3=Brent |last4=Passacantando |first4=John |last5=Jr. |first5=Daniel B. Magraw, |last6=Musil |first6=Robert K. |last7=Moore |first7=Monica |last8=Cook |first8=Kenneth |last9=Karpinski |first9=Gene |display-authors=etal |title=Eighteen of Americas most prominent environmental organizations express deep concerns about the Bush Administrations approach towards implementing the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Poll |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=1 April 2004 |url=https://www.ciel.org/news/eighteen-of-americas-most-prominent-environmental-organizations-express-deep-concerns-about-the-bush-administrations-approach-towards-implementing-the-stockholm-convention-on-persistent-organic-poll/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{wodder2004eighteen, author = {Wodder, Rebecca R. and Clapp, Phil and Blackwelder, Brent and Passacantando, John and Jr., Daniel B. Magraw, and Musil, Robert K. and Moore, Monica and Cook, Kenneth and Karpinski, Gene and Schlickeisen, Rodger and Krupp, Fred and Callahan, Deb and Pope, Carl and Sharpless, Andrew and Fuller, Kathryn S. and Rufe, Roger T. and Beinecke, Frances and Schweiger, Larry}, title = {{Eighteen of Americas most prominent environmental organizations express deep concerns about the Bush Administrations approach towards implementing the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Poll}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2004}, month = apr, url = {https://www.ciel.org/news/eighteen-of-americas-most-prominent-environmental-organizations-express-deep-concerns-about-the-bush-administrations-approach-towards-implementing-the-stockholm-convention-on-persistent-organic-poll/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }