EPA proposal aimed at small-town America
WASHINGTON, April 1 (UPI) -- Drinking water in some small rural U.S. communities could contain higher levels of contaminants such as arsenic under an EPA proposal.
The proposal would roll back a rule that the Environmental Protection Agency put into effect in January and respond to complaints that some communities can't afford the new limits, The Washington Post said Saturday.
An estimated 50 million people could be affected.
Under the plan, water systems serving 10,000 or fewer residents could have up to three times the level of contaminants allowed under the new regulation.
Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Water, said the agency believes health protection and affordability can be achieved together.
But, Erik Olson, a senior lawyer for the advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council, called the move one that "could have serious impacts on people's health, not just in small-town America."
Bush seeks to make tax cuts permanent
CRAWFORD, Texas, April 1 (UPI) -- Saying the evidence is "overwhelming" that tax cuts enhance the U.S. economy, President George W. Bush argued for the extension of tax cuts.
Bush reminded listeners in his weekly radio address that the deadline for filing 2005 tax returns is the middle of this month, and said this was a good time to discuss tax cuts.
Tax cuts Bush was able to get Congress to pass are due to expire in a few years. Some in Congress have said the cuts should be rescinded because of huge budget deficits run up by the Bush administration.
The president said the U.S. economy is growing at a strong rate, unemployment is low and some 5 million jobs have been created in recent years. He said that means "Congress needs to make the tax relief permanent."
"The evidence is overwhelming," Bush said. "The opponents of tax cuts were wrong. Tax relief has helped to create jobs and opportunities for American families and it's helped our economy grow."
Clark goes over Democrats' security plan
WASHINGTON, April 1 (UPI) -- Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, saying the Bush administration's polices have "taken us on a path to nowhere," touted a Democratic plan to revamp U.S. security.
Clark was among several high-profile Democrats who this week announced the party's plan to make the United States safer. The announcement involved making 2006 a "decisive" year in Iraq and having every cargo container entering the United States screened. It also involved bashing of security measures taken by U.S. President George Bush.
"This administration has taken us on a path to nowhere -- replete with hyped intelligence, macho slogans and an incredible failure to see the obvious," Clark said in the Democrat's Saturday radio address. "It started with a fight we didn't finish against Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan and included a war we didn't have to fight in Iraq."
Clark also offered highlights of the Democrats' security plan, including a program to help the Iraqis form a government, then "responsibly redeploy American troops," increase efforts to find bin Laden and establish policies to halt proliferation of nuclear weapons and biological weapons.
Brazilian plane crash kills 19
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, April 1 (UPI) -- All 19 people on board a Brazilian commuter flight were found dead Saturday following a crash in the rough mountains of Rio de Janeiro state.
The plane that went down late Friday night was traveling from a small airport in Macae and was headed to the city of Rio de Janeiro on what aviation officials said should have been a 40-minute flight, O Globo reported.
However the plane went down some 60 miles outside of Rio near the city of Saquarema, where dense jungle mountains are making the recovery effort difficult, said rescuers.
