Administration Issues Weakened Medical Privacy Rules

Over the objections of privacy advocates, the Bush administration on August 14 issued new standards on the handling of patient medical records, replacing protections adopted in the last month of the Clinton administration that were strongly opposed by HMOs, insurance companies, and pharmaceuticals.

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Maloney Introduces Contractor Accountability Bill

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced legislation (H.R. 5292) last week that seeks to ensure federal contractors follow the law by creating a centralized database on actions taken against them, including government lawsuits, consent decrees, and administrative agreements. The legislation, which is co-sponsored by Reps. Stephen Horn (R-CA) and Jim Turner (D-TX), follows a report by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), as well as articles in U.S. News & World Report and Mother Jones, which demonstrated that many of the largest federal contractors are also major league lawbreakers.

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Diesel Rule, Rollback of Power Plant Regs to Move Ahead Despite Congressional Appeals

The Bush administration last week reaffirmed its commitment to strengthen diesel-engine standards but at the same time to rollback enforcement efforts against aging coal-fired power plants after receiving separate Congressional requests that it reconsider.

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OMB Hijacks Clean Air Standards

In what appears to be part of a broad effort to reshape air regulation, OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) apparently forced EPA to withdraw two proposed emissions standards for stationary internal combustion engines and industrial boilers, insisting that the agency make changes that may be inconsistent with the Clean Air Act.

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Senate Committee Passes Bill to Reduce Power-Plant Pollution

Legislation requiring significant cuts in emissions from electric power plants, including carbon dioxide, squeaked out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee by a vote of 10 to 9 on June 27, over the objections of the Bush administration. The bill (S. 556), sponsored by Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-VT), the committee’s chairman, would require emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) to be reduced by 83 percent, mercury by 90 percent, and carbon dioxide (CO2) by 23 percent, all by 2008.

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Testimony on the Regulatory Right-to-Know Act

Gary D. Bass, Ph.D. testified before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs on the Regulatory Right-to-Know Act and Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis today. Statement of Gary D. Bass, Ph.D. Executive Director OMB Watch Before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs On The Regulatory Right-to-Know Act and Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis April 22, 1999 Thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding S. 59, the Regulatory Right-to-Know Act (Regulatory Accounting), and the establishment of a Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis (CORA).

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House Passes Lawbreakers Immunity Act

The House passed the Small Business Paperwork Reduction Act (H.R. 391) today by a vote of 273-151, leaving enough votes (tally provided below) to sustain the likely veto by President Clinton. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) offered an amendment to fix the most objectionable provision of the bill, which requires automatic waiver of fines for first-time violators of agency reporting requirements, but it was narrowly defeated 210-214. Currently, when small businesses make a good-faith effort to correct mistakes, agencies almost always waive fines for

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Court Throws Out Clean Air Standards

A U.S. appeals court threw out EPA's recent clean air standards on May 14 in an irresponsible attack on well-established principles of administrative governance. Two of the three ruling judges, both Reagan appointees, found that the section of the Clean Air Act on which the EPA standards are based amounts to "an unconstitutional delegation of power," marking a major victory for the oil companies, auto manufacturers, and other polluters that spent millions trying to defeat the standards.

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Administration to Relax Clean Air Protections for Aging Power Plants

The Bush administration recently announced its decision to roll back clean air protections for older, coal-fired power plants, allowing them to modernize without installing the latest technology to cut down on emissions, as reported in the Washington Post.

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Current E-Rulemaking Systems

An OMB Watch assessment of currently available agency e-rulemaking systems. Dept. of Transportation

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