A new study has shown that lowering the height of SUVs by as little as half an inch and adding other safety features can cut the number of deaths of car passengers struck by SUVs by nearly 50 percent, saving 600 to 800 lives per year, if the standards are fully implemented. From the New York Times:

A new GAO report reveals that there are significant gaps in our regulatory protections against lead in drinking water, with corresponding gaps in our knowledge about whether or not children and families are sufficiently protected:

There is another brilliant contribution from scholar Lisa Heinzerling on regulatory policy issues. In her latest article, Prof. Heinzerling notes that "economic analysis has substantially succeeded in de-ethicizing environmental issues" that she wishes explicitly to "re-ethicize." The ethical norm she chooses to focus on is the prohibition against knowing killing. After a review of the norm as it is inscribed throughout the corpus of American law, Heinzerling observes that this norm animates our concern with pollution:

USA Today is reporting criticisms of the Bush administration's decision to abandon most previously identified priorities for mine safety and health, criticisms that took on renewed life after the Sago tragedy and now are intensifying as another West Virginia mine accident keeps mine safety in the news. For a compilation of those abandoned priorities for protecting the public, click here. You can download a recent overview of MSHA's failures as well as those of other agencies. Some abadoned plans worth noting in light of recent news:

• RIN 1219-AB19: Self-Contained Self-Rescue Devices