GAO Finds USDA Breaking Rules by Promoting Tobacco Exports

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is helping American tobacco companies promote their products overseas despite congressional restrictions banning such activity, according to a recent report by the Government Accounting Office (GAO). Congress, concerned about the government’s promotion of American tobacco products in foreign markets, passed legislation in the 1990s prohibiting agencies -- including the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) -- from funding tobacco export programs.

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Proposal to Cut Overtime Pay Elicits Huge Response

More than 75,000 people have written to the Department of Labor (DOL) in response to its proposed changes to overtime standards -- the most mail the agency has received on any similar issue in at least a decade, according to the Washington Post. DOL’s proposed changes, issued March 31, 2003, would significantly alter current overtime rules -- stripping eight million workers of their right to time-and-a-half pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a single week, according to a recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.

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EPA Misleadingly Pads Enforcement Record

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the leadership of the Bush administration, has misrepresented its record of criminal enforcement and overstated its successes in cracking down on polluters, according to an investigative report by the Sacramento Bee. Specifically, the agency has:

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    OSHA Drops Ergonomics Recordkeeping Requirement

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) altered standards on June 30 for recording workplace injuries and illnesses, eliminating a provision that required employers to document workers’ ergonomic injuries.

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    White House Stamps Out EPA Findings on Climate Change

    The White House forced EPA to drop findings on global climate change from a recent draft report on the state of the environment in what’s become a pattern of politics trumping science.

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    House Committee Moves to Stop 'Country of Origin' Meat Labeling

    The House Appropriations Committee recently voted to block implementation of a law that requires meat and meat products to bear a label indicating their country of origin. The meat industry strongly opposes such country of origin labeling (COOL), which was mandated by the 2002 Farm bill, claiming it would be costly and disruptive. The requirements were instituted to help consumers identify American-made products and have been seen as increasingly important due to the recent discovery of mad cow disease in Canada.

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    NHTSA Issues Weakened Tire Performance Standards

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently issued tire performance standards, the first in more than 30 years, that are weaker than those in the agency’s original proposal, which met resistance from industry. Congress, following the recall of millions of Firestone tires with tread separation problems, mandated these new requirements as part of the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act of 2000. The new standards:

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      Ose Introduces Bill to Test Regulatory Budgeting

      Rep. Doug Ose (R-CA) recently introduced legislation (H.R. 2432) that would test regulatory budgeting at five agencies, including EPA and the departments of Labor and Transportation. Under these “pilot projects,” the participating agencies -- including two to be designated by OMB -- must present the “varying levels of costs and benefits to the public that would result from different budgeted amounts” for at least one of their “major regulatory programs.” OMB is to include these regulatory budgets in the president’s budget submission to Congress for fiscal year 2007.

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      EPA Study Finds Water Polluters Not Penalized

      An internal EPA study shows that 25 percent of major industrial facilities are in significant noncompliance with permits issued under the Clean Water Act, the majority of which receive little or no disciplinary action, according to the Washington Post.

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      OSHA Unveils Unenforceable Ergonomics Guidelines for Poultry Plants

      The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released draft voluntary guidelines for the prevention of repetitive stress injuries (the most pressing health and safety issue confronting the workplace today) at poultry processing plants.

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