IS OUR COUNTRY
ELIMINATING
THE
U.S. RADON
PROGRAM ?
Nearly $2
Million in Cuts This Fiscal Year
Are Drastic Cuts Planned
beginning October 2012?
AARST Letter Transmitted to EPA Administrator Lisa
Jackson
CanSAR's Gloria Linnertz's Letter to Administrator
Jackson
Dear Radon Professionals:
Your business and risk reduction efforts may be seriously
affected by radon budget cutbacks.
The most cost effective voluntary environmental risk reduction
program at EPA, the EPA Radon Program, has seen its 2012 budget
significantly cut by nearly $2 Million dollars with some important
programs cut over 50%.
The EPA draft budget for FY2013
may seek to eliminate additional regional and headquarter radon
staffing.
The actual
amount of these new cuts will become known when the Administration
releases it's proposed FY 2013 Budget in early February. [
We will provide more details to you as soon AARST receives them from
Capital Hill in early February.]
We believe the administration's draft
radon budget for 2013 may eliminate all SIRG grants for State Radon
Programs. We hope we are wrong. Current indications are
that cuts are planned for other voluntary programs in other federal
agencies as part of a federal agency trend.
What does the mean for
public health in our nation?
Cuts to the nation's radon program, especially
the State Grants, would be significant and could negatively impact
radon awareness, social marketing and public education at both the
national and state levels. This would consequently marginalize
radon risk reduction in the United States.
What would be EPA's implied message with such
drastic radon program cuts?
Radon
Is Not a Real Health Risk
Has the Agency attained the goal of the 1988 Indoor Radon
Abatement Act to reduce
indoor levels in American homes to the ambient levels found outdoors? NO.
What would be left after such cuts?
Perhaps only
a skeleton staff left to maintain radon information resources at the
agency. This would no longer be a credible program.
Then why would they almost eliminate the program's
budget? Don't
they have a moral and legal obligation to
continue and increase these efforts ?
AARST has no
option. We must protest any such cuts to the EPA radon
program.
This will be critical issue for the radon
professional community.
AARST is not a grantee organization and we do not receive
federal funding.
However, we do support CRCPD, the other grantee organizations
and the state radon programs. The national radon program is cost
effective AND CREATES JOBS.
AARST President Carolyn Allen sent the attached letter to
Administrator Jackson on November 30, 2011 and was in Washington, D.C.
with Gloria Linnertz of CanSAR to work with other groups on this and
other radon risk reduction issues. AARST will continue to work on
this issue.
AARST is
going to fight to protect the nation's radon program and we need your
help in this effort:
1) Please send a similar letter (DOWNLOAD SAMPLE HERE) to
EPA Administrator Jackson via email to her at jackson.lisap@epa.gov
with copies going to your Federal Senators and Congressional
Representative; Find their email address here:
a. http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
b.
http://www.house.gov/representatives/
c. http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
2) visit, call and write members of your
Congressional delegation (DOWNLOAD SAMPLE CONGRESSIONAL TEXT HERE.)
a. include a copy of the AARST President's Letter
to Administrator Jackson
b.
write your own version of a letter to your Congressional rep or
Senator
3) call upon your customers to write letters
4) call upon your professional radon colleagues
to write similar letters
5) urge your state radon programs to deliver to
CRCPD impact statements on how such cuts would affect your state's
population
6) ask your regional and state offices of the
American Lung Association (and other non-profits involved with health
and housing) to protest such cuts
7) recruit members into AARST or Join AARST http://www.aarst.org/join_now.shtml to
support this advocacy
8) upgrade your AARST membership to a higher status.
Become a Company or Corporate Member to furhter Support our work:
www.aarst.org/join
9) donate money to CanSAR: www.cansar.org
We all realize that these program budget cuts are set in the
background budgetary issues facing our federal government. Congress
will be deciding many of these issues. We need to have the US EPA and
the administration supporting radon as best it can in the weeks, months
and years ahead of us.
Walking away from our national radon program is not an
option and should never be considered until the job is
done. 10 Million American Homes are at risk. An American dies every of radon induced lung
cancer every 25 minutes.
AARST will keep working to insure that radon risk
reduction has a vibrant resource at the federal level. Stay tuned
and become involved.
Thank you.
Carolyn Allen
AARST President
