The Regulatory Freeze Act: Legislation to Make the World More Dangerous and the Economy Weaker
Mar 20, 2012
The so-called Regulatory Freeze for Jobs Act, reported out of the House Judiciary Committee earlier today, is the clearest example yet of just how broken the national debate on public protections has become. This bill is ostensibly about getting Americans back to work, but the bill contains no provisions to address unemployment. Instead, it would gut the system of public protections that underpins our entire economy.
Should Victims of the BP Oil Spill Be Unsettled by Recent Settlement Agreement?
Mar 20, 2012
April will mark the two-year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster that killed eleven people, injured seventeen others, and released an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. On March 16, the Senate passed a widely supported measure that would section off 80 percent of the fines BP has paid and direct those funds to the five Gulf states impacted by the spill.
House Appropriators Begin Debating FY 2013 Funding Levels for Federal Agencies
Mar 6, 2012
Currently, federal officials are being called to explain how the president's FY 2013 budget request would impact our public protections. As it moves forward with the appropriations process, Congress should refrain from using spending bills to enact ideological policy measures.
Environmental Justice Advances into Federal Policymaking
Mar 6, 2012
On Feb. 27, several federal agencies released environmental justice strategies that outlined steps they will take to address and reduce the disproportionate health and environmental harms that affect low-income, minority, and indigenous communities. This release is part of the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to integrate environmental justice into all areas of federal policymaking, including transportation, labor, health services, and housing.
read in fullGetting the Truth about Safe Drinking Water
Mar 6, 2012
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) rule, a policy mandating that public water systems provide annual reports to consumers on the quality of local drinking water. The resulting reports have been criticized for being overly technical, complex, and difficult for the general public to understand or act upon.
Worker Safety Rule Under Review at OIRA for Over a Year: A Tale of Rulemaking Delay
Feb 22, 2012
This year, Feb. 14 signified more than a Valentine’s Day celebration for worker safety advocates. Last Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of the regulatory review of a proposed rule issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that would strengthen standards for protecting workers from crystalline silica, a known human carcinogen that is linked to fatalities and disabling illnesses such as silicosis.
Trade Secrecy Reaches New High
Feb 22, 2012
While trade negotiations have long involved some level of secrecy, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed regional free trade agreement between the United States and Asia-Pacific partner countries, involves unprecedented levels of work being done behind closed doors. This agreement could curtail crucial activities of state and local governments and would cover profoundly important public policy issues – access to essential medicines, food security, and natural resource management – that deserve extensive public review and discussion. However, intense efforts are being made to block the public from knowing even the most basic content of the agreement.
Safeguarding the Public's Health and Safety: The President's FY 2013 Public Protections Funding Requests
Feb 17, 2012 by Craig Jennings
When public agencies are effective and responsive, the protections they afford to the American people are largely invisible. Americans have largely forgotten the “bad old days” before there were meat inspectors, toy inspectors, workplace safety standards, clean air and water standards, and laws against the release of toxic chemical waste. In a new analysis released Feb. 17, we examine the “public protections budget” – a diverse set of federal programs in agencies whose mission is to protect the health and welfare of the American public.
read in fullKeystone Pipeline Derailed – For Now
Jan 24, 2012
On Jan. 18, President Obama rejected the permit for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project, which was sought by Canadian firm TransCanada and Big Oil interests. The Obama administration determined that more study was needed to see whether the project was in the long-term national interest of the United States. Communities along the proposed pipeline route that are concerned about public health and safety issues welcomed the administration's decision, even as Republican lawmakers vowed to continue fighting for the project.
Third-Party Audits Aren't a Panacea for Increasing Safety
Jan 24, 2012
The third-party audit system, in which private companies take over responsibility for inspecting worksites and production facilities, has been shown to expose Americans to significant health and safety risks while eating, working, and breathing.
