Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone today said the Bush Administration is violating federal law by choosing not to issue mandatory regulations regarding lead paint. In a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Stephen L. Johnson, the New Jersey congressman expressed his outrage regarding recent reports that suggest that the EPA will instead issue voluntary standards.

"It is troubling that the EPA would choose not to adopt regulations that would provide critical health protections to our nation's children," Pallone wrote in the letter to Acting Administrator Johnson. "Such an action would be a clear violation of federal law."

In 1992, Congress added a title to the Toxic Substances Control Act requiring the EPA to set national standards for renovation and remodeling practices that will limit the exposure of children and pregnant mothers to lead-based paint. The statute included a deadline mandating the EPA deliver relevant regulations by 1996, but to date no guidelines have been issued.

"Nine years later, not only has your agency not produced any guidelines, it now seems that the EPA has given up on the idea of issuing any mandatory regulations," Pallone wrote. "Congress made its will crystal clear in 1992 -- it is long past time for the EPA to carry out the law."

In the letter, Pallone expressed his concern that the EPA's decision would have a particularly adverse impact on New Jersey. Pallone noted that the EPA's own website cites data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), indicating that nationally "lead poisoning is a top environmental health hazard for young children, affecting as many as 1.7 million children age five and under."

"Exposure to lead-based paint is a particularly serious matter in my state of New Jersey, where a large number of houses in urban areas were built before lead paint was banned in 1978," Pallone wrote. "Clearly, there is a strong need to develop mandatory regulations to protect children from exposure to lead in renovated homes."

Children living in older houses where lead-based paint is present are at greater risk of suffering developmental disorders such as lowered IQ, reading and learning disabilities, hyperactivity, and behavior problems. Fetuses can also suffer developmental problems if pregnant women are exposed to lead-based paint.