Citizens for Sensible Safeguards released a new report documenting a systematic attack on regulatory protections to a standing-room-only crowd at an event that featured former federal workers who have resigned in protest of that attack. The report, Special Interest Takeover: The Bush Administration and the Dismantling of Public Safeguards, was produced on behalf of Citizens for Sensible Safeguards by OMB Watch and the Center for American Progress. It was released last Tuesday at an event held at The Wilderness Society. After introductory remarks by Carol Browner, former EPA director under Clinton, OMB Watch Executive Director Gary Bass characterized the last four years as an attack on regulatory protections unparalleled in its breadth and depth. "What is happening to the regulatory system is truly, truly alarming," said Browner. Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, director of the Center for Children's Health and the Environment, spoke about the special threat a weak regulatory system poses for children. Children are more likely to be adversely impacted by pollutants and toxins in our food, air and water. Landrigan pointed to evidence of a direct link between air pollution and an increase in asthma in children. He also showed how a stronger regulatory system markedly improves the health and well-being of our children. Landrigan concluded by expressing the need for national prospective cohort study of American children. This comprehensive long-term study would provide invaluable date on the health and well-being of American children. However, the Bush administration refuses to adequately fund such a study. The event also featured a panel of former federal agency workers who voiced their frustrations over the sweeping assaults on regulatory policy. The panelists, who had served under both political parties, argued that the policies of the current administration have undercut agencies' ability to implement protections opposed by industry. The Bush administration has undermined the rulemaking process by cutting off funding, limiting staff and resources, limiting the power of existing staff, and swamping government workers with unnecessary and costly cost-benefit analysis. As a former EPA administrator, "I'm shocked and embarrassed," said Sylvia K. Lowrance, former EPA acting administrator for enforcement in 2001 and 2002. "Sound analysis is required for anything EPA wants to do unless it's a rollback." The breadth of the assault on regulatory measures is evident in the number of regulations enacted in the past four years. Whereas the EPA set 21 regulations during the term of Bush I, only eight have been enacted under the current administration -- of those, seven were mandated by the courts and the last was actually a rollback. The ex-civil servants believe that their ability to formulate and enact sensible safeguards has been severely limited by the administration's policies. Whereas in previous administrations the career workers were able to contribute their expertise, they found themselves in the last three and a half years almost entirely cut out of the rulemaking process. "There's always a 60-40, 40-60 swing," stated Bruce Buckheit, former director of the air enforcement division in EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, "but now it's more like 99-1." Buckheit, who started working full time for EPA during the Ford administration, said "I have never seen anything like this. It is broad and it is deep."