“I READ YOUR POLICY PAPER, JACK. Tom insisted that I should.” Renni Fowler, her shoulder-length mahogany-red hair swept away from her face with a pair of black combs, looked over the heavy desk at McDarvid.
Her office contained two couches, both upholstered in the blue leather of the House of Representatives, a pair of stuffed and battered wooden bookcases, the desk with a credenza and the A.A.’s chair behind it, and the two barely padded, blue leather armchairs. There might have been ten square feet of open floor space. Stacks of papers covered the desk, and a console rested on the credenza—a Macintosh computer.
McDarvid wondered how anyone could use an icon-driven machine. Then, his brother wondered how anyone could possibly settle for anything else.
McDarvid sat in one of the uncomfortable armchairs. “And?”
“It’s very good. You make a clear case that environmental policy has hampered the space effort. The metals initiative looks particularly damaging.” Her voice was calm, as it had always been on the few times he had met with her when he had been with EPA. “The Chairman would be happy, I’m sure, to make an inquiry at Environment. We can’t do much with OSHA, you understand. We don’t have any jurisdiction there.”
McDarvid pursed his lips. “It’s far more serious than that. I suspect the Chairman would find ample material and interest if he held a hearing.”
The subcommittee counsel looked toward the single window, then back at McDarvid. “The schedule’s filled already.”
“I know you can’t do anything in December,” McDarvid admitted amiably. “But I checked with … I checked already. You’ve only got one hearing set for the entire month of January.”
“I can’t schedule hearings in January. No one will be back until after the twentieth, just before the State of the Union and the President’s Budget.”
“What’s the problem?” McDarvid pushed again.
“The Chairman would be happy to send a letter over to the Secretary.”
“What? Basically enclose our paper and ask for comment?”
“Yes. That’s the normal procedure. Then, if there’s no suitable response, there might be grounds for further inquiry.”
“Renni, you know as well as I do that it will be two months before you get an answer. In the meantime, DEP will finish drafting the NPRM. The department response will say nothing, except that the department will consider all the factors submitted during the comment period.”
“That’s what they’re supposed to do.” Rennie smiled politely. “I would hope your old department would continue to follow the laws, Jack.”
“I’m not asking them to do anything else, Renni. I am asking you to do more than draft a cover letter about a serious problem affecting U.S. heavy industry and high technology.” McDarvid swallowed. “Let me put it another way. DEP has never issued a less restrictive final regulation than when they first proposed a rule. The only times rules have been changed is under a court order, and you can’t get a court order until after the final rule is promulgated. So what you’re telling me is that you’ll be happy to look into the damage after it has occurred.”
“Jack, I’m sure the department and the environmental groups who filed the petitions for emergency temporary standards have material almost as good as yours showing why tighter standards are vitally necessary.”
“There’s one difference, Renni.”
“Oh?”
“Even their own material fails to show the need for tighter standards. Everything has a threshold value. Even water. Too little and you die. Too much and you drown. Just because cadmium causes kidney disease at high levels doesn’t mean you ban it at any level. Arsenic is toxic at high levels, but the human body needs trace amounts to function properly. The same is true of iron.”
“You’ve always been rather convincing, Jack. But the schedule doesn’t allow a hearing in January. We will be happy to send an inquiry, however, and I’ll even make an exception to the rule and send you a copy.”
“No chance of a hearing?” McDarvid persisted.
“Not now.”
“Thank you.” He rose. “Mind if I keep in touch?” He did not ask about Michael Alroy, although he wondered how much the engineer/lobbyist/boyfriend influenced Renni.
“Certainly, but you know how we operate.” She did not stand, but watched from behind the desk.
McDarvid closed the door.
Tom Lerwinsky looked up from the small desk in the alcove to the right of the empty secretary’s desk. “How did it go?”
“Renni’s agreed to send an inquiry from the subcommittee. I tried to persuade her to call a hearing, but she felt that was … premature.” McDarvid shrugged. “I guess I need to be more persuasive.”
“That paper seemed persuasive to me, Jack.”
McDarvid forced a smile. “I thought so, but I’m not exactly unbiased. Rennie pointed out that the other side has some facts to back their case. Anyway, back to the drawing board.” He nodded to the deputy counsel. “See you around.” Then he paused. “Is Renni … I mean, I didn’t want to say anything, but Mike Alroy … is he still in the picture?”
“You interested?” Tom’s face showed disapproval.
“Lord, no. That wasn’t what I meant at all. But this is an aerospace issue, and it might affect Mike’s outfit. So I don’t want to rock any boats.”
“Oh … yeah, that might be a problem.” Lerwinsky lowered his voice. “Yes. More than ever, but I didn’t tell you.”
McDarvid nodded. Was that why Renni was sticking to the safe formal track? Maybe Jonnie could check out whether Hesterton Engineering was involved with JAFFE’s competitors. Then, again … “Thanks, Tom. I’ll send you anything else we develop on this.”
“No problem, Jack. Good luck.”
“Thanks. Might need more than luck, though.”
As McDarvid waited for the modernized elevator, he recalled when the building had been the FBI warehouse/annex. Now it housed floor after floor of subcommittee and support staff. He didn’t know which use was worse.