Ugh…

Via E2 Wire:

House Republicans are being accused of “environmental racism” by an environmental group that argues GOP efforts to reform decades-old chemical laws would disproportionately harm minority groups.

At issue is draft legislation backed by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) that would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to focus on chemicals that pose the greatest risk to the public in enforcing environmental protections.

Shimkus argues his bill would free up resources to focus on the most dangerous chemical threats, but the liberal Environmental Justice Health Alliance says it would end up hurting minority groups by moving resources away from policing the threats in their neighborhoods. That, it turn, would increase the risk that they could develop cancer, asthma, childhood leukemia, infertility and birth defects, among other health problems.

In a press release, the group said the bill would promote what it called “environmental racism.”

“This bill harms communities of color disproportionately,” Michele Roberts, co-coordinator of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance, said in an interview. “Most of these chemicals are either manufactured, stored in, or disposed of in primarily communities of color.”

Shimkus last week argued the bill would strengthen the chemical protections in the 1976 Toxic Chemicals Control Act (TSCA) by more effectively targeting the chemicals that pose the greatest risk to the public.