Graham Advises Ose to Scale Back Bill on Regulatory Budgeting

The House Government Reform committee recently held a hearing on a bill (H.R. 2432), sponsored by Rep. Doug Ose (R-CA), that would test regulatory budgeting at five agencies, including EPA and the departments of Labor and Transportation.

read in full

EPA: No Permits Required for Pesticides In or Over U.S. Waters

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in a recent guidance document, declared that applying pesticides directly in or above U.S. waters with the purpose of controlling insects does not require a pollutant discharge permit under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

read in full

House Votes to Block Country of Origin Meat Labeling

The House, acting with the support of the Bush administration, recently voted to block implementation of standards that require meat and meat products to bear a label indicating their country of origin. These country of origin labeling (COOL) requirements, which were mandated by the 2002 farm bill, were conceived to help consumers identify American-made products, and are seen as increasingly important due to the recent discovery of mad cow disease in Canada.

read in full

Increase In Rollovers Leads to Highest Highway Fatality Rate Since 1990

Highway fatalities, boosted by a rise in the number of rollover crashes, increased by 1.5 percent in 2002, reaching the highest level since 1990, according to data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Rollover crashes -- which increased by 5 percent, from 10,157 in 2001 to 10,666 in 2002 -- accounted for 82 percent of the total fatality increase. The number of persons killed in sport utility vehicles (SUVs) that rolled over increased as well – by 14 percent.

read in full

USDA Issues Long-Awaited Listeria Standards

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently issued long-awaited standards to control listeria monocytogenes (commonly known as listeria), a dangerous food-borne bacterium often found in ready-to-eat foods.

read in full

FDA Relaxes Standards for Health Claims on Food Labels

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced its intent to relax restrictions on food manufacturers for making claims about the health benefits of products. FDA will allow companies to petition the agency for review of claims about the healthfulness of their products based on preliminary scientific information—a departure from its current practice of approving only those claims supported by conclusive scientific evidence.

read in full

Administration Hides Favorable Data for 'Clear Skies' Alternative

The Bush administration recently attempted to hide an analysis showing that a rival Senate plan would achieve greater public health and environmental benefits than the president’s Clear Skies Initiative, at only a slightly higher cost.

read in full

GAO Finds Oversight of Medicaid Waivers Lacking

The Bush administration, through the use of waivers, has given states flexibility in administering Medicaid, but has failed to adequately oversee these programs, according to a recent report by the Government Accounting Office (GAO). The use of Medicaid waivers, which exempt states from federal regulations and potentially enable them to tailor programs to meet state-specific needs, has grown significantly over the past decade. In particular, states have increasingly sought home and community-based services (HCBS) waivers in order to provide non-institutional long-term care for the elderly.

read in full

FDA Requires Food Labels to List Trans Fatty Acids

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued standards requiring labels to list the amount of trans fatty acids in foods -- helping consumers make better-informed decisions about products they eat. Trans fatty acids (or “trans fat”), which have been linked with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, are fats found in foods such as vegetable shortening, snack foods, fried foods, and salad dressings.

read in full

New Guidelines Open Door to Logging

The U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior (DOI) recently issued joint interim guidelines to implement stewardship contracts that allow timber companies to harvest trees in exchange for broadly defined “land management services” -- opening the door to increased logging in forests.

read in full

Pages

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