A number of U.S. recycling companies are ignoring regulations regarding the exportation of hazardous electronic materials, but the Environmental Protection Agency is turning a blind eye to the violations, according to a Wednesday report.

A number of U.S. recycling companies are ignoring regulations regarding the exportation of hazardous electronic materials, but the Environmental Protection Agency is turning a blind eye to the violations, according to a Wednesday report.

The EPA needs to make a bigger effort to "ensure that the larger universe of potentially harmful electronic devices are exported in a manner that does not harm health or the environment," according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The EPA has regulated the export of cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) since January 2007. CRTs are found in computer monitors and TVs, but can contain up to four pounds of lead, which can contaminate landfills and poison individuals who break them down.

Many companies reclaim used electronics and reuse them for future products while other equipment makes its way to U.S. landfills. But some of the devices are shipped overseas where they are stripped for parts in an unsafe manner.

Under the EPA regulations, companies looking to export CRTs must notify the EPA 60 days before shipment. The EPA must then obtain permission from the receiving country and give the U.S. a final OK before shipment.

How many companies are actually complying with this process? Very few, the GAO said.

Though Hong Kong alone identified 26 containers of illegally imported CRT containers, the EPA "has since penalized one violator, and then only long after the shipment had been identified by GAO," the report said.

During a three-month study, the GAO set up shop on various e-commerce Web sites and posed as CRT buyers from Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, and other countries.

GAO made contact with 43 U.S. companies that said they would be willing to ship CRTs abroad, and some proclaimed their willingness to flout the EPA's CRT rules.

GAO provided the EPA with the names of those companies but did not name them publicly. They were based throughout the country, however, in states like California, New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois, and Washington state.

"EPA officials acknowledge compliance problems with its CRT rule, but said that given the rule's relative newness, their focus was on educating the regulated communities," the report said. "This reasoning appears misplaced, however, given GAO's observation of exporters willing to engage in apparent violations of the CRT rule, including some who are aware of the rule."

EPA has done little to figure out the extent of the problem, and the agency does not have a plan or timetable to develop an enforcement program, GAO said.

The GAO "mischaracterizes" EPA's compliance with the law, the EPA said after reviewing an advanced copy of the GAO report.

Those who read the report might incorrectly assume that "a very large percentage of U.S. electronic waste is currently being reused and recycled globally," EPA wrote in an August letter. "Consumer electronics  including TVs and other video equipment, computers, assorted peripherals, audio equipment, and phones  comprise less than 2 percent of the municipal solid waste stream."

Up to 85 percent of electronics are disposed of domestically, usually in landfills, according to the EPA.

John Stephenson, director of resources and environment at GAO and the report's author, told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee Wednesday that he was "baffled" by the EPA's response since "enforcement of the CRT rule was non-existent" until the GAO brought up the issue.

Stephenson speculated that CRT enforcement is a low priority and acknowledged that the EPA might not have the resources, but said that "we certainly have the capability to do it if we had the desire to do it."

In fact, EPA should be expanding the types of electronics it covers with its export rules, Stephenson said. Consumer electronics are not limited to computer monitors and televisions, but also include digital music players, cell phones, and audio equipment.

GAO also requests that EPA work more closely with Customs and Border Patrol to improve identification and tracking.

GAO also thinks the United States should ratify the Basel Convention, a 1989 international import-export agreement that requires countries to get permission from receiving countries shipping CRTs and to refrain from exporting to countries that might handle them irresponsibly.

The U.S. Senate approved the Basel Convention in 1992, but before it can be a done deal, Congress must implement additional legislation that provides the necessary statutory authority to implement its requirements.

So far, no one has proposed such legislation, but Rep. Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa and chairman of the House subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the global environment, said Wednesday that he would work with the subcommittee to craft a bill.