By law any forthcoming legislation in this area needs to be in compliance with http://www.nepa.gov/nepa/regs/nepa/nepaeqia.htm This requires an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) be prepared.
Such a report has been done by the EPA in 2005 �Solders in Electronics: A Life-Cycle Assessment�
http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/dfe/pubs/solder/lca/lfs-lca-final.pdf
If you look at page ES-16/table ES-4 and ES-5 it appears that SAC alloys have a higher impact on the environment compared to Sn/Pb in areas: Non renewable resource use, Energy use, Global warming, Ozone depletion and Water Quality.
Since when have we (the US) become followers instead of leaders? Please make your elected representatives aware of this.
Patrick
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