Essential Elements for U.S. Leadership

U.S. Ratification of the Stockholm POPs Convention:

Essential Elements for U.S. Leadership

The United States Must Re-Join the Global Effort to Eliminate Persistent Organic Pollutants

Persistent Organic Pollutants (“POPs”)

POPs are a global hazard because they persist for years in the environment, travel long distances by wind and water, and accumulate in the food chain. POPs in our bodies can cause cancer, neurological and learning disabilities, and subtle changes to our reproductive and immune systems. Children are especially vulnerable to exposures before birth and from breast milk. People living near industrial plants, workers, Arctic communities, and Indigenous Peoples who rely on traditional foods often bear the greatest burden of chemical contamination. POPs released in the United States can harm people and wildlife thousands of miles away, and Americans are already exposed to dangerous levels of POPs from beyond our borders.

The Stockholm POPs Convention

Recognizing that the problem of POPs can be solved only through global action, the United States and other countries developed the Stockholm Convention, which entered into force in May 2004. This historic agreement enjoys the support of businesses, workers, environment and health experts, and has been ratified by more than 90 countries. The treaty regulates the use of 12 POPs and establishes a rigorous, science-based process for identifying and eliminating POPs worldwide. The United States has not yet ratified the treaty, in part, because the Bush Administration is reluctant to give EPA authority to take prompt action on other POPs that will be added to the treaty. So when countries meet for the first time under the POPs Convention in May, the U.S. government will be on the sidelines.

Essential Elements for Renewed U.S. Leadership

The United States played a major role in drafting and negotiating the Stockholm Convention. In 2001 President Bush endorsed it and called for prompt ratification. Now, Congress must amend federal laws on pesticides and other chemicals to implement the Convention’s all-important provisions for the future identification and elimination of POPs. This legislation must include three essential elements:

1. Prompt U.S. Action. The United States must promptly decide whether to regulate a POP when it is added to the treaty. Because of the treaty’s “opt-in” safeguard, we can never be bound against our will by an international new listing decision.
2. Respect for State Efforts. Implementing amendments should support, not preempt, state laws that safeguard public health and the environment from POPs, such as those recently enacted in California, Maine, Hawaii, Michigan, New York, and elsewhere.
3. Clear Legal Authority. The law should facilitate U.S. participation, not hinder it. EPA must have the authority to respond quickly and effectively when POPs are added to the treaty by:
   • Taking advantage of the international scientific evaluation not a costly, redundant investigation;
   • Reviewing scientific evidence according to standards required under current U.S. law, not untested approaches that demand perfect scientific certainty before taking action;
   • Using the health-based regulatory standard agreed in the Convention, not a controversial “cost-benefit balancing” test that puts a price on human life.