Setting and Enforcing Regulations | Center for Effective Government

Clean Air Rollback Takes Effect As Legal Challenges Move Forward

Fourteen states and a coalition of five environmental health organizations have launched legal challenges to the Bush administration’s overhaul of the Environmental Protection Agency’s New Source Review program, which relaxes limits on air pollution from factories, refineries, and power plants.

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EPA Report Finds Mercury a Growing Threat to Children's Health

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released its long-awaited report on children’s health and the environment, ("America’s Children and the Environment: Measures of Contaminants, Body Burdens, and Illnesses"), finding that mercury emissions pose an increasing threat to children.

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EPA Issues Guidelines for Assessing Cancer Risks

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued near final guidelines for agency scientists and other risk assessors to use in assessing cancer risks from chemicals or other environmental agents.

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Air Toxics Rule Approved Without 'Risk-Based' Exemptions

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved a final rule February 28 establishing air toxics limits for the brick and clay industry that does not include controversial provisions exempting lower-risk facilities from control.

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CPSC Finds Dangers to Children, Decides Not to Act

Staff at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)are recommending that the agency defer action on a petition to ban chromium copper arsenate (CCA) pressure-treated wood, despite finding that children who play on equipment made from such wood face an increased risk of developing lung or bladder cancer. CCA-treated wood is used in nearly 90 percent of all backyard decks and wooden play sets, and releases arsenic for up to 20 years after installation, according to the Environmental Working Group, which brought the petition seeking a ban.

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EPA Scales Back Wastewater Rule for Metal Finishers

EPA has significantly weakened a rule to address wastewater from facilities that manufacture, rebuild or maintain metal parts, products, or machines, covering only 2,400 facilities rather than the 89,000 covered by the original Clinton-era proposal. The rule, signed by EPA Administrator Christie Whitman on February 14, lays out narrow standards that apply only to facilities that generate oily wastewater, one of eight industry subcategories included in the original proposal.

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EPA Extends Deadline for Comments on New Source Review Proposal

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended the deadline for public comments on its proposal to relax air pollution standards under the New Source Review (NSR) program by 60 days, from March 3 to May 2. The proposal (part of a broader effort to overhaul NSR) would expand the definition of “routine maintenance,” allowing older power plants to make more extensive upgrades without having to install new anti-pollution equipment required of a “new source.”

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EPA Publishes Weak Rule on Livestock Waste

The Environmental Protection Agency published a weak final rule on February 12 to limit runoff from livestock waste, requiring about 15,500 concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to obtain permits under the Clean Water Act. The rule, originally announced in December, waters down an earlier proposal by the Clinton administration, cutting the number of affected operations by more than half. The Clean Water Network provides a side-by-side comparison of the new rule with the Clinton proposal, as well as a fact sheet describing the administration’s plan.

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OMB Proposes Changes in Regulatory Decision-Making

OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) proposed new guidance February 3 that instructs federal agencies how to make regulatory decisions, including the specific analytical methods that should be employed.

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Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Increase SUV Fuel Efficiency

Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) introduced a bill (S. 265) that would require sport utility vehicles (SUVs) to meet the same fuel efficiency standards as passenger cars. The bill, introduced January 30, would require auto manufacturers to raise the fuel economy standards for light trucks and SUVs from the current 21 miles per gallon (mpg) to 27.5 mpg -- the standard that passenger cars meet today. The legislation calls for gradual increases in fuel efficiency, climbing to 23.5 mpg by 2008, 24.8 mpg by 2009, and 26.1 mpg by 2010, reaching 27.5 mpg in 2011.

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