Dear Friend:

In the closing months of this administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that it does not plan to regulate perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel that contaminates sites in at least 35 states, including California.

According to the EPA, perchlorate, a chemical found in rocket fuel, is found in the drinking water supplies of up to 16.6 million Americans. However, other independent researchers have estimated that 20 million or more Americans are exposed to the toxin, which particularly threatens pregnant women, infants and children.

The Bush EPA's failure to set a standard for perchlorate is outrageous, and I will do everything in my power to reverse it.  Perchlorate contamination endangers the health of our families, and to simply allow it to remain in our drinking water is immoral.

As Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, I've been working to protect the American people from exposure to perchlorate through legislative means.  I've introduced the Perchlorate Monitoring and Right to Know Act (S.24), requiring that the EPA resume testing of drinking water for perchlorate, and that the results of those tests be disclosed to the public; and the Protecting Pregnant Women and Children from Perchlorate Act (S.150), requiring the EPA to promptly set a standard for perchlorate in drinking water that protects pregnant women and children. Both of these bills were approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in July 2008, but our effort to move the bills on the Senate floor was blocked opponents of the measures.  We will continue our fight to enact these bills.

You can count on me to continue to work to protect the health of all Americans by pushing for the regulation of perchlorate.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator