Biden Administration Prioritizes Delay over Safety of Children
PHOENIX - Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a reply brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit on behalf of five states in their challenge against the Biden Administration’s Delay Rule that postpones protections against lead in drinking water. Lead is a particularly dangerous neurotoxin, which is acutely harmful to children whose brains are still developing. The brains of adolescent children exposed to lead are often permanently damaged and can cause lifelong developmental and behavioral problems.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently admitted that the costs of the Delay Rule might far exceed its benefits, depending on which rate the administration uses when looking at the cost/benefit. And by “costs,” the EPA is looking at and attempting to monetize the loss of IQ points in children due to permanent brain damage. By EPA’s own estimates, the Delay Rule would cause up to $29 million in brain damage that otherwise would not occur except for EPA’s action. This is unthinkable.
“EPA’s apparent indifference to the pernicious effects of lead poisoning in children is shocking,” said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “I will do everything in my power to have this travesty invalidated.”
EPA’s callousness towards children continued with its argument that preventing permanent injuries to their brains was not “in the public interest.” However the state attorneys general coalition could not disagree more. Children are of paramount importance, and preventing them from being exposed to lead poisoning is imperative. The EPA’s apparent apathy towards the harms of lead poisoning is powerful evidence of a bureaucracy that cares more about its power and appeasing special interest groups than the people it is supposed to be serving.
Attorney General Brnovich is joined by the attorneys general of Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Copy of the coalition’s reply brief.
Copy of the coalition’s motion.
Copy of the coalition's response for a motion for a stay.