Maybe- just maybe- it was a bad treaty. After all, Japan has never ratified it either. I think Clinton didn't send it up to the Hill because he knew it wouldn't pass and left it for Bush to deal with. I don't think Bush could get it passed either.
If it was so critical,why didn't Clinton push it harder. It's just like the arsenic thing. Clinton waits until the last minute to sign the new standards into law, knowing that they are not only unnecessary but outrageously expensive to implement and leaves Bush holding the bag.
The EPA report stated that it would cost billions to implement the new standards and millions each year to maintain them . In the meantime, the EPA estimates that the new standards would save 28 statistical lives per year at a cost of OVER 60 million dollars per life. At present, the EPA rates a life at 4 million dollars. In other words, if they can save lives at a cost of less than 4 million dollars per life, the idea is economically feasible.
In short, while there are a lot of places that the country needs to look at public safety, this isn't one of the more urgent, to say the least.
But, of course, having done your research, you all know this already. Don't you?

troll