Rep. Matt Gaetz smells something fishy in the Biden administration’s latest attempt to regulate a perfectly good household product.
The Fort Walton Beach Republican on Monday sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency asking the reason for its sudden interest in Berkey Water Systems, a top maker of water filtration units.
Gaetz, according to a press release issued by his office, was responding to a lawsuit filed against the EPA because of a proposed rule that would declare Berkey’s filters “pesticides.”
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Gaetz said this was because the company uses silver in its products.
Silver is “not on its own” considered a pesticide under federal law or under previous EPA guidance, the lawmaker wrote to EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
“Millions of water filters incorporate silver and, if regulated as pesticides, will be forced to label their products with aggressive warning signs and register their products as pesticides.”
“This unprecedented attempt to, arbitrarily and without administrative process, put Berkey Water Systems out of business is an abuse of the EPA’s regulatory authority,” Gaetz added.
“In no stretch of the imagination is Berkey or any other water-filter brand that incorporates silver engaging in the business of manufacturing pesticides or manufacturing products that are treated with pesticides.”
“The EPA’s ruthless and illogical interpretation” of the federal law in question “is self-evidently without merit, and it must be reconciled with reality,” he added.
“At a time when Americans are increasingly unhealthy and their water filled with contaminants, such as endocrine disrupters, heavy metals, and ‘forever’ chemicals, such as PFAS, the EPA should be pursuing policies within its regulatory authority that incentivize increased use of water-filtration systems, not less,” Gaetz noted.
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“The EPA must end its attack on Berkey Water Systems immediately and focus on the job it was created to do – keep Americans safe – a job Berkey Water Systems has arguably done more effectively.”
Gaetz pointed out that Berkey’s systems have been on the market for more than 25 years with no issues. The Washington Examiner, which also reported on Gaetz’s letter, notes that Berkey is the second best-selling filter, behind Brita.
Gaetz also wanted to know why the EPA “after decades (has) just now sought to change the way it regulates Berkey Water Systems.”
The Silver Institute reports that silver prevents bacteria and algae from building up in water filters so the system can eliminate bacteria, chlorine, lead, and odors. “Silver, in concert with oxygen, acts as a powerful sanitizer that offers an alternative to, or an augmentation of, other disinfectant systems,” the trade group says.
“Silver ions are being added to water purification systems in hospitals, community water systems, pools and spas. Silver also helps to prevent Legionnaires’ disease, which is caused by buildup in pipes, connections and water tanks.”
Since taking office, Biden’s regulators have sought to crack down on lawnmowers, leaf blowers, gas stoves, gas furnaces, water heaters, dryers and others.
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