Tell EPA not to ban lead sinkers

With few exceptions -- those we tend to look upon with utmost disdain -- most sportsmen and sportswomen have learned that the ability to remain quiet is often the key to finding success in the field and sometimes on the water.

Unfortunately, it would appear some of us have developed that attribute too well. Sometimes we are too quiet. Sometimes we need to make a little noise.

One of those times is now.

In early August, the Environmental Protection Agency received a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity and four of its partner organizations requesting the EPA act under authority of the Toxic Substances Control Act to ban lead in bullets and shot used for hunting, along with all lead in fishing tackle. This ban, according to the Keep America Fishing website, would include "sinkers, jigs, weighted fly line, and components that contain lead such as brass and ballast in a wide variety of lures, including spinners, stick baits and more."

The EPA is required to consider such petitions within 90 days, but it didn't take that long for the agency to respond. In a letter to the petitioners dated Aug. 27, assistant administrator Stephen A. Owens wrote, "After careful review, (the) EPA has determined that (the) TSCA does not provide the Agency with authority to address lead shot and bullets as requested in your petition, due to the exclusion found in TSCA ß 3(2)(B)(v). Consequently, we are denying that portion of your petition."

The exclusion Owens referred to states that the term "chemical substance" as used in the TSCA does not include any article that must be taxed when sold, according to section 4181 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Language in section 4181 specifically lists pistols, revolvers, firearms other than pistols and revolvers, shells and cartridges as the items subject to that tax (26 U.S.C. ß 4181).

In a news release, the EPA said it "is taking action on many fronts to address major sources of lead in our society, such as eliminating childhood exposures to lead; however, (the) EPA was not and is not considering taking action on whether the lead content in hunting ammunition poses an undue threat to wildlife."

The EPA's decision to deny this portion of the petition was a no-brainer. But no such legal exclusion exists for fishing tackle. And because "there are no similar jurisdictional issues relating to the agency's authority over fishing sinkers, (the) EPA ... will continue formally reviewing a second part of the petition relating to lead fishing sinkers," the EPA noted in a news release.

Keep America Fishing, an outreach program sponsored by the American Sportfishing Association, said on its website (keepAmericafishing.org), "Any lead restrictions need to be based on sound science that supports the appropriate action for a particular water body or species." The group doesn't think data supports a complete federal ban on lead sinkers or tackle.

The EPA is so interested in your opinion on this matter that it has shortened the comment period by about six weeks. The original Oct. 31 deadline has been changed to Sept. 15. Instructions and assistance with comment submissions can be found online at keepAmericafishing.org.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.