Blog Posts and Analysis / Citizen Health & Safety

Obama Administration Asks for Public Views on E-Rulemaking

The Obama administration is asking for feedback on its efforts to include the public in regulatory decision making. E-rulemaking allows citizens and stakeholders to comment on regulations and other government documents online, but existing challenges have limited public participation.

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California Seeks to Add New Chemicals to Prop. 65 List

California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is proposing to add 30 chemicals linked to reproductive harm and cancer to the state's Proposition 65 list. Proposition 65, a statute passed by California voters in 1986, requires the state to list chemicals known to cause public health problems and bars some actions that could expose people to the substances.

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OIRA's Role in the Obama Administration Examined

A panel of regulatory policy experts discussed how the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has been functioning during the Obama administration and how reforms could benefit the public. The discussion came as the White House prepares to issue a new executive order that could alter the way regulations are written.

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Food Safety Legislation Progresses Slowly

The first steps on real food safety reforms were the subject of a House hearing June 3 in the Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health. The subcommittee unveiled the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, a synthesis of several different bills that had been introduced earlier this session.



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EPA Regains Control of Toxic Chemical Studies

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is changing the way it studies the health effects of industrial chemicals in an attempt to quicken the pace at which new assessments are completed and to limit political interference in the scientific process.

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White House Role in Rulemaking Could Improve, Report Says

whitehouse

The White House is a major player in agency rulemakings, affecting both the content of regulations and the length of time needed to complete them, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. The report comes as advisors to President Barack Obama consider reforms to the regulatory process.

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OIRA Nominee Sunstein Promises Law and Pragmatism Will Guide Decisions

During his May 12 confirmation hearing, President Barack Obama's choice for regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein, portrayed himself as a pragmatist, one who will not use economic analysis as a straitjacket for regulations. In pledging to look to the law first for regulatory guidance, Sunstein tried to distance himself from past regulatory czars who strongly supported economic analysis to judge the adequacy of health, safety, and environmental rules.

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