Though most government agencies have worked diligently to alleviate the untold burdens on Hurricane Katrina's victims and to expedite recovery in a safe and effective manner, several agencies have taken the opportunity to waive needed protections, thus possibly putting recovery workers and others at greater risk. From the Department of Education to the Federal Aviation Administration, federal agencies are developing strategic responses to the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Agencies are providing housing, food and medical services to the victims of the hurricane. And some agencies, such as the Department of Transportation, are also waiving rules to make it easier for needed supplies to be carried to the area or to address other problems. In a few select cases, however, important public protections have been waived in response to the catastrophe. These waivers may undermine relief efforts by putting recovery workers and others at risk. Questionable Waivers Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Regulations In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, two declarations of emergency and one other White House emergency-related proclamation have weakened rules for truckers and motor carriers, effectively waiving most FMCSA safety regulations in order to respond to the "emergency" situations, however loosely defined. The result in all three cases is the waiver of qualifications for drivers, safety requirements for carrier parts and accessories, hours of service requirements for drivers, inspection, repair and maintenance standards for vehicles, requirements for the transportation of hazardous materials, as well as employee safety and health standards.

• The regional declaration of emergency issued by FMCSA, which went into effect Aug. 31, waives safety regulations for the "emergency transportation of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, natural gas/CNG, propane and ethanol." The original declaration of regional emergency expired on Sept. 15; however, FMCSA has extended the waiver of safety regulations through Oct. 5 for transportation to, from, and within the states in the eastern (CT, DC, DE, MD, MA, NH, ME, NJ, NY, RI, VT, PA, VA, WV) and southern (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NM, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX) regions of the country.
• The White House's declaration of emergency for the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas resulted in a waiver of safety regulations for truckers delivering "direct emergency relief to, from, or within" those states, "regardless of commodity carried." This waiver went into effect Aug. 29.
• The White House's authorization of emergency relief in support of evacuees in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia automatically triggered the waiver of safety regulations for the "emergency movement to, from, or within those States of items needed to house, feed, or clothe evacuees."

The waivers are quite broad, despite not affecting the requirements for commercial drivers licenses or state regulations of vehicle weight. For example, FMCSA will allow drivers to assist the Gulf Coast efforts who are not otherwise qualified to drive, and trucks delivering fuel in most parts of the country will not have to meet standard levels of maintenance and service. Further, the declaration waives the hours of service regulations, which limit the number of consecutive hours a truck driver can work without taking a break. Under FMCSA regulations that operate during declarations of emergency, a driver must receive ten hours of off-duty rest if he or she requests it, but companies do not otherwise have to comply with hours-of-service regulations. Though a temporary waiver may have been necessary to help evacuate the area or to provide immediate assistance, now that the areas hit by the storm have been fully evacuated, waiving these important regulations puts truck drivers as well as others on the road needlessly at risk. Minimum Wage for Government Contractors Just as Katrina's aftermath shone the national spotlight on the vast poverty and inequity in the Gulf region, the White House responded, ironically, by repealing a 70-year-old minimum wage standard. Claiming a need to lower the cost of reconstruction, the White House announced Sept. 8 that it is suspending its obligations under the Davis-Bacon Act to require a fair minimum wage for contractors working on the reconstruction and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. The Davis-Bacon Act prohibits the federal government from undercutting prevailing wages in the construction industry in areas where the federal government is contracting for work. The administration is required to ensure that its contracts establish minimum wages for workers that comport with the prevailing wage of the area. The White House invoked the act's exemption for national emergencies. Secrecy News, a publication of the Federation of American Scientists, noted that a Congressional Research Service report indicates Bush's waiver of Davis-Bacon may be illegal. The National Emergencies Act of 1976 renders several statutory authorities dormant, unless specific procedural formalities are enacted by the president. Since the president did not formally declare a national emergency in accordance with that act, the Davis-Bacon waiver may be illegal. The president's action came one day after 35 Republican members of Congress led by Reps. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Tom Feeney (R-FL) and Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) requested Bush to temporarily suspend the Davis-Bacon Act for the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort. Companies such as Halliburton's Kellogg Brown & Root that are given federal contracts to rebuild in the Gulf region are under no obligation to pass the savings from reduced labor costs onto taxpayers. There is nothing to prevent these contractors from cutting workers' wages and boosting their own profits, while passing no savings onto taxpayers. The Center for American Progress noted that prevailing wages in the Gulf Coast are not likely to make people rich. "A laborer in New Orleans would receive $10.40 per hour in wages and fringe benefits," according to the Center. Representatives in Congress who oppose Bush's waiver have already moved to undo it legislatively. Rep. George Miller has introduced a bill, H.R. 3763, that will require the re-application of Davis-Bacon wage requirements to the areas affect by Hurricane Katrina. The Campaign for America's Future has launched a letter-writing campaign to support the Miller legislation. Environmental Standards: Fuel and Hazardous Materials With the waters in and around New Orleans teeming with hazards such as lead and hexavalent chromium and the airs carrying the remnants of dangerous leaks of natural gas and carbon monoxide, the Environmental Protection Agency has chosen to waive fuel refinement and emissions standards, thus adding to the health hazards already present. Whatever merit there may have been in temporary waivers to mitigate the overtaxed fuel supply, both the duration of these waivers and EPA's apparent willingness to extend them point to a potentially hazardous trend. In the name of ensuring "that the Hurricane Katrina natural disaster does not result in serious fuel supply interruptions around the country," the agency announced waivers of various fuel standards in a number of markets. The agency's website lists a rash of recent waivers for fuel requirements, including waivers for low sulfur highway diesel fuel requirements, for the use of reformulated gasoline in Richmond, VA, and for the use of low volatility "summertime" gasoline, as well as relaxed requirements for "refiners, importers, distributors, carriers and retail outlets to supply gasoline and diesel fuels that do not meet standards for emissions." Though most of the waivers of fuel standards were originally set to expire Sept. 15, EPA extended them in several cases. The waiver of requirements for low sulfur gasoline, for instance, was extended until Oct. 5 in Tennessee and Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADD) I and III, which includes eastern states from Maine to Florida and the Gulf states. Extensions were granted to the waiver of standards for low Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP), which sets the volatility for gasoline, in Texas, California, and Phoenix, AZ. The Natural Resources Defense Council argues that waivers are not an appropriate long-term response to fuel shortages. As NRDC vehicles policy director Roland Hwang stated in a press release, NRDC does not oppose interim waivers but adds that it is "important to recognize that [waivers] will cause harmful health effects from increased air pollution. It cannot be a permanent rollback." At the same time, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued temporary emergency exemptions for Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, authorizing them to waive all safety regulations for the transportation of hazardous materials to, from and within the disaster areas when necessary to support the recovery and relief efforts. The exemption does not include transport of radioactive materials. A Sign of Things to Come? These cases may be less important as individual policy decisions than as portents of a broader agenda of regulatory rollbacks. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has unveiled a vast plan for using the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast as an excuse for broad rollbacks of federal protections, including environmental, worker health and safety, and minimum wage standards. The president's recent speech announcing the White House's plan for reconstruction of the region included reference to a "Gulf Coast Opportunity Zone." Though Bush gave little detail of what such an opportunity zone would entail, the Heritage Foundation report using the same language details a vast give-away to corporate special interests and a full-scale repeal of health and safety protections. Ideas put forward in the report include drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, suspending environmental regulations such as the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, and waiving the prevailing wage standards in Davis-Bacon. The Heritage Foundation recommended a limited government response to rebuilding the Gulf Coast while cutting the so-called "red tape" of health and safety regulations. Senate environment committee chair James Inhofe (R-OK) has already taken some of the report's message to heart, dropping a bill Sept. 15 that would allow EPA to waive all environmental protections in the name of expediting the Gulf Coast recovery. Heritage Foundation scholars and other conservative thinkers see the devastated Gulf Coast as an "Opportunity Zone" for entrepreneurs "in which capital gains tax on investments is eliminated and regulations eliminated or simplified." The report calls for the suspension of any regulations that may "impede" recovery. Judging by Bush's ready acceptance of the report's "Opportunity Zone" language, it seems likely that other threats to public health and safety, civil rights, and environmental protections are soon to come.