When the 109th Congress reconvenes on Jan. 20, expect Republican lawmakers to continue work on anti-regulatory measures that will protect industry interests at the cost of the public interest. House Speaker Tom DeLay (R-TX) has repeatedly mentioned “universal regulatory reform” as one of several high-priority items for the 109th Congress’s agenda, and the House Government Reform Committee announced late last year that reauthorization of the Paperwork Reduction Act will be only one part of “a reform-focused legislative and oversight agenda that will streamline the federal government.”

The White House waited until eight days before Christmas to reveal its new regulatory �reform� plan instructing agencies to review and complete action plans on a regulatory hit list of over 200 suggestions for reversing protections of the public interest, mostly proposed by industry lobbyists.

The Unified Agenda is a special feature in the Federal Register that, every six months, lists the regulatory priorities of the agencies, notes the stage of the process in which the priority items are currently projected to be, and identifies which items are being removed from the agency agenda.

Perchlorate, a key ingredient in rocket fuel that is associated with developmental delays, can be found in lettuce from Florida, bottled water from California, and organic milk from Maryland, according to initial data from the Food and Drug Administration. Although it is too soon to determine whether perchlorate contamination of food and water is truly widespread, the FDA’s early results are nonetheless the latest chapter in a dispute pitting environmental and public health against industry influence over science and the prerogatives of the Department of Defense.