While Feds Dither, States Move to Regulate Greenhouse Gases

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has rejected an air permit for proposed power plants due to the threat of the resulting greenhouse gas emissions. The decision makes Kansas the latest state to take proactive steps to stem greenhouse gas emissions while federal agencies and Congress delay action and White House officials continue to question climate science.

read in full

Bush Administration Tries to Reverse Old-Growth Forest Protection Plan

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is trying to dismantle a 1994 landmark management plan that balances logging, endangered species and old-growth forest protections. BLM wants to revise the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) to allow logging on nearly one million acres of old-growth forest area included in the plan that protect habitats for species such as the northern spotted owl, salmon and other old-growth-dependent species. The proposed revisions ignore scientific recommendations, and the process appears to have been manipulated by Bush administration officials in Washington.

read in full

CSS Supports House Effort to Stop Bush's Regulatory Changes

On behalf of Citizens for Sensible Safeguards, OMB Watch Director of Regulatory Policy Rick Melberth wrote to Congressmen Brad Miller (D-NC) and Linda Sanchez (D-CA) in support of their efforts to curb President Bush's recent attempts to further manipulate and control the regulatory process. Find out more by downloading the letter.

read in full

States Sue Bush Administration over New Children's Health Insurance Requirements

Several states have sued the Bush administration over new policies governing the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The suits follow broad opposition from state public health experts and congressional Democrats and Republicans who urged the administration to abandon the new policies. The suits also come as Congress attempts to reauthorize SCHIP after a presidential veto.

read in full

New White House Guidelines Fit into Broad Attack on Federal Protections

The White House has issued new guidelines for federal agencies in conducting risk analysis. Risk analysis, of which risk assessment is a central factor, is a process by which agencies identify and evaluate risks such as toxic exposure or structural failure. Risk analysis often lays the scientific or technical foundation for public health and safety rulemakings.

read in full

Senate Reviews Agencies' Attempts to Preempt Congress and the States

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Sept. 12 about federal agencies' practice of inserting into regulations language that removes consumers' ability to sue under state tort law those corporations whose products cause harm. In addition, the use of this preemption language limits the ability of state and local governments to protect the health, safety and welfare of their citizens. Federal preemption removes the targeted policy area from state and local jurisdiction and makes it almost exclusively a federal policy issue.

read in full

OMB Risk Analysis Memorandum Continues Bush Administration Policy of Less Regulation

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2007—The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) today released a risk analysis memorandum, "Updated Principles for Risk Analysis," outlining principles that federal agencies must follow for risk assessment, management and communication. The memorandum reiterates a policy that has been in place since 1995. But that policy, taken in the context of other regulatory changes made by the Bush administration, continues a policy of less regulation even as the public demands more protections of our food, consumer products, environment and workplace.

read in full

It's Industry vs. Consumers and Health Specialists in National Ozone Hearings

Recent field hearings in five major U.S. cities highlighted the debate over the need to write a more stringent air quality standard for ozone. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is under court order to issue an updated standard by March 2008. Industry representatives used two familiar arguments to urge EPA to leave the existing ten-year old ozone standard untouched, while public health experts and citizens argued the health impacts under the current standard are potentially devastating.

read in full

New Small Business Program Will Influence Agency Regulatory Reviews

The Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy has launched a new program that may expand SBA's influence into agency regulatory activity. The Office of Advocacy acts as a liaison between the business community and the federal government, particularly the executive branch.

read in full

New Report Examines Agency Review of Regulations

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a new report on the process by which federal regulatory agencies review regulations after they take effect. Agencies conduct reviews to comply with existing law, as a matter of agency policy, and in response to White House requests. The report finds the quality of reviews varies widely and determines the major barriers to more useful reviews are gaps in available data and problems with public participation.

read in full

Pages

Subscribe to Setting and Enforcing Regulations (Articles and Blog Posts)