EPA is putting the brakes on an important recycling rule, according to BNA news service (subscription). The rule has been in the works for well over a year, and EPA recently indicated it would announce a proposed rule this fall. Now, EPA says it will issue only an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, a sort of baby step in the regulatory process. EPA is using dubious claims to justify its decision to delay the rule which would establish a national program for recycling plastic pesticide containers. EPA claims it has neither enough information nor the legal authority to pursue a rulemaking. Those arguments are hollow, especially when considering EPA has included the rule in its last three Unified Agendas. (The Unified Agenda is a semi-annual listing of regulations each federal agency is working on.) In the latest Agenda, readers can find this: 2910. PESTICIDE AGRICULTURAL CONTAINER RECYCLING PROGRAM Priority: Other Significant Legal Authority: 7 USC 136 to 136y 7 USC 136 is part of the United States Code on pesticide control. By its own admission, EPA has the legal authority to pursue this rule. Why is the agency changing its tune now? Interestingly, EPA senior official Brian Mannix (who is also the husband of newly minted regulatory czar Susan Dudley) has indicated the rule would not fare well during the White House review process led by Dudley, according to the BNA article. It is not clear what the White House's concerns would be, but it does raise concerns over political pressures which are clearly being exerted in the prerulemaking stage.