In May, the Obama administration increased the "social cost of carbon," a monetized estimate of damage caused by carbon emissions that is used to analyze the impacts of certain standards, by roughly 60 percent. Updated to reflect new scientific modeling, the new figure may help agencies implement tougher standards to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.

This week, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California concluded that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by failing to comply with specific deadlines for food safety rules, which were set out in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). For a number of major food safety regulation areas, FDA failed to meet the dates set for completion. Although some of the rules were proposed in January, many remain under review at FDA or the White House.

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice announced a settlement with Tyson Foods, Inc., along with several of its affiliates, over violations of the Clean Air Act that occurred between 2006 and 2010.  These violations included the accidental release of toxic anhydrous ammonia in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri that resulted in property damage, multiple injuries to workers, and one death. 

Stronger standards for hazardous chemicals not only protect human health and the environment, but can also spur innovation and benefit the economy. A recent report, Driving Innovation: How stronger laws help bring safer chemicals to market, examined the impact of laws governing hazardous chemicals and found that the prospect of stricter laws on toxic chemicals sparked the invention, development, and adoption of alternatives. The demand for these alternatives is growing globally.