At the request of the battery industry (and other producers of lead pollutants), the EPA is considering removing lead from a list of regulated air toxins.  Their reasoning, according to Scientific American, is that lead levels in the air have fallen 90% since lead was first added to the list in the 70s, so they can now consider that mission accomplished and allow lead pollution to ramp back up.

Rep. Harry Waxman (D-CA) wrote EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, urging him to:

renounce this dangerous proposal immediately. At a time when the public health impacts of environmental pollution are becoming better understood and our reason for concern grows, this announcement by EPA is particularly misdirected

"Misdirected" is a tad more charitable than I felt upon first reading the news.  "Asinine" and "idiotic" sprang more immediately to mind.

Hey, EPA, while you're at it, why don't you just go ahead and okay asbestos and chlordane for use in human habitations?  I mean, now that use is way down from a few years ago, it seems safe enough to poison an entirely new generation with lackadaisical standards benefiting corporate pocketbooks at the expense of public health, right?