months or risk being shut down. The Clinton administration recognized the toxicity of mercury and developed a proposal, ôwhich was basically accepted by the Bush EPA in December 2001, [that] would have reduced emissions by 90% in just four yearsö (3). However, the Bush administration lengthened the time for the reduction by changing this to a reduction of 34 tons per year by 2010 and 15 tons by 2018ùa 70% reduction in mercury over the next 13 years. Environmentalists say that this timeframe allows too much mercury into the atmosphere in the meantime and that such industrial processes need to be shut down as quickly as possible.
Finally, it has been suggested that criminalizing improper mercury disposal would provide a solution to the mercury pollution problem. There are already penalties for manufacturers whose plants release mercury, of course, but the disposal of smaller amounts of mercury at the personal levelùsuch as throwing out broken thermometersùis legally allowed. Although these represent small amount
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