In one of his first moves as president, George W. Bush issued a memorandum temporarily prohibiting agencies from publishing new rules in the Federal Register, effectively blocking last-minute regulatory actions by the Clinton administration.

February, 7 2001 Since his first day in office, President Bush has moved aggressively to turn back Clinton-era protections for public health, safety, consumers, and the environment. Specifically: On Jan. 20, Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card, issued a memorandum directing that agencies halt publication of new standards in the Federal Register, effectively blocking last-minute regulatory activity by the Clinton administration.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Reece Rushing, 202-234-8494 April 4, 2001 Say you are the government. You are considering two contractors, equal in every way except that one has repeatedly violated environmental laws. Common sense says you contract with the law-abiding company. But then, you wouldn’t be the Bush administration.

The Bush administration has killed or weakened a host of health, safety, and environmental protections -- including restrictions on hard rock mining, energy efficiency standards, and ergonomics rules to protect workers, just to name a few. OMB Watch provides a list of priority safeguards that have been weakened or revoked. Emissions Standards for Power Plants. The Bush administration announced on November 22 that it is rolling back protections to limit air pollution from factories, refineries and power plants as part of a long-expected overhaul of EPA’s New Source Review program.