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EPA investigators and attorneys are questioning the agency's enforcement efforts -- including decisions to assign criminal agents to EPA Administrator Christie Whitman's "personal security detail" -- as the number of cases referred for federal prosecution by the agency drops. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) recently released a survey of agency investigators and enforcement attorneys, finding that nearly 70 percent of the 120 respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, "The EPA criminal program is headed in the right direction."

The Bush administration recently released new standards, which it says will "improve highway safety," that actually extend the amount of time truckers can stay behind the wheel each day. The new href="http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-9971.htm">"hours of service" rules allow truckers to drive for 11 hours instead of the current 10, and require drivers to take a 10-hour break period -- up from 8. Trucking companies are backing the change, while the Teamsters union, which represents truckers, and safety advocates oppose it.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator John Peter Suarez has expressed strong support for proposals to exempt the Department of Defense from a host of environmental laws despite serious objections from his own staff.