Safeguarding Public Health and the Environment

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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More on the California Waiver Controversy

Sep 25, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Earlier, Reg•Watch blogged about the concerted lobbying efforts of senior administration officials intent on killing an effort by the state of California to enact its own greenhouse gas reduction program.

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Don't Go into the Water: It's Not the Jellyfish, It's the Sewage

Jellyfish aren't the reason U.S. beaches are being closed — it's sewage, and legislation in the Senate and House seeks to ensure that people know when sewage is in their water.

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NRC to Release Documents on Spill

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has revoked a three-year-old secrecy policy and plans to release documents from two nuclear fuel processing plants in response to congressional demands. This about-face was precipitated by a congressional inquiry into a uranium leak kept secret from the public for more than a year.

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Administration Lobbies to Kill California Emissions Plan

Sep 25, 2007 by Matthew Madia

The Bush administration engaged in a broad, multi-agency effort to lobby congressmen and governors to urge them to oppose a California plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent investigation. In December 2005, California petitioned EPA to let the state develop its own program and standards for regulating greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. Under the Clean Air Act, the federal government holds the express right to regulate emissions but may grant waivers to states, which it often does. If EPA grants California's waiver request, 11 other states could follow suit.

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Latest Watcher

Sep 12, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Be sure to check out the latest issue of our biweekly newsletter, The Watcher. Regulatory policy articles this time: Federal Agencies Knew of Diacetyl Dangers and Kept Silent Bush's Anti-Regulatory Ideology under Increasing Scrutiny It's Industry vs. Consumers and Health Specialists in National Ozone Hearings

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EPA's Second Round of 9/11 Testing Falls Short

According to a Sept. 5 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) second program to test and clean building interiors contaminated by toxins from the World Trade Center (WTC) collapse was a virtual failure. The program's problems stemmed from EPA's inadequate public notification and refusal to listen to its own science experts. The GAO report also indicated that EPA was reluctant to accept cleanup responsibility according to expert recommendations. The result was a limited program grossly underutilized by the public.

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It's Industry vs. Consumers and Health Specialists in National Ozone Hearings

Recent field hearings in five major U.S. cities highlighted the debate over the need to write a more stringent air quality standard for ozone. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is under court order to issue an updated standard by March 2008. Industry representatives used two familiar arguments to urge EPA to leave the existing ten-year old ozone standard untouched, while public health experts and citizens argued the health impacts under the current standard are potentially devastating.

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The Other Surge: Regulatory Activity at the End of a Presidency

Sep 10, 2007 by Matthew Madia

An article in yesterday's New York Times describes how President Bush has started a flurry of 11th hour regulatory activity. Every president since John Adams has used the waning days of his presidency to issue executive edicts and final regulations in order to ensure his policy beliefs outlast his days in the White House. The article mentions the environmentally damaging mountaintop mining rule the administration proposed last month (click here for details) as a precursor of things to come.

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New Report Chides Agencies' Handling of Climate's Impact on Natural Resources

Sep 6, 2007 by Matthew Madia

The Government Accountability Office — the research arm of Congress — released a report today on the federal government's responsiveness to climate change. Specifically, the report focuses on how officials who manage federal land and resources have planned for the effects of climate change. The report recognizes the danger extreme weather, rising sea level, and biological instability pose to our nation's waters, lands, and coastal areas. Yet, according to the report, the Bush administration isn't taking the danger seriously:

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Public Supports Tighter Standard for Ozone

Aug 31, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, EPA held two public hearings on the agency's proposed revision to the national standard for ozone (a.k.a. smog) exposure. In June, EPA proposed tightening the standard within a range of 0.070 to 0.075 parts per million. The current standard is 0.084 ppm. The Philadelphia Enquirer and The Los Angeles Times report on the hearings in their respective cities. In both hearings, speakers expressed displeasure with the proposal. Public health advocates and local citizens demand an even stricter standard, while industry representatives want to maintain the status quo. Both articles offer compelling tales of speakers afflicted with asthma who feel as though the government has a responsibility to step in and ensure the safety of the human environment. Both articles also point out supporters of tighter standards outnumbered industry reps during the hearings. Industry representatives likely know EPA is under a legal and moral obligation to tighten the standard. But the manufacturing industry is concerned the proposal may hurt their bottom line. They resort to two arguments in attempts to defeat EPA's efforts.

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