The Ohio Player

Drawing unfavorable attention to President Bush's choice to head the U.S. EPA's enforcement program, a preliminary report released yesterday by the agency found that Ohio has done a poor job enforcing air-pollution rules. Bush's nominee, Donald Schregardus, led the Ohio EPA during most the 1990s. The report said that air inspections, investigations of complaints, and amounts of penalties collected have all declined in Ohio in recent years. In addition, the Ohio EPA employed fewer people than it had said would be necessary to enforce clean-air standards. The federal agency said it would move to take control of Ohio's environmental enforcement authority, unless the state's record improved. Several Democratic senators said the report strengthened their case that Schregardus should not be approved for the U.S. EPA job.