Setting and Enforcing Regulations

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 news

Bipartisan Group Issues Report on Science in Policymaking

Aug 6, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Bipartisan Policy Center yesterday released a report that recommends ways federal agencies can ensure the integrity of regulatory science and improve the quality of regulations, especially those regulations informed by science.

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Sunstein Nomination Will Have to Wait

Aug 6, 2009 by Matthew Madia

It’s all but certain that Cass Sunstein, President Obama's pick to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), will not be confirmed before the Senate recesses tonight or tomorrow. According to Congress Daily (subscription), Senate leaders will try to bring up votes on a few noncontroversial nominees, and Sunstein won’t be one of them.

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EPA Faces Clean Air Test, Advocates Say

Aug 4, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Environmental Protection Agency is mulling a new air quality standard for nitrogen dioxide – a pollutant that can irritate the lungs and trigger asthma attacks.

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Bureaucratic Unrest Surrounds New Regulations.gov Site

Jul 31, 2009 by Matthew Madia

In his “In the Loop” column in today’s Washington Post, Al Kamen reports that Department of Transportation officials are unhappy with the new version of Regulations.gov, the federally run website that allows users to comment on proposed regulations. (I blogged about the redesign here.)

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While Sunstein Nomination Is Delayed, Regulatory Reform Waits

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has placed a hold on the nomination of Cass Sunstein, President Obama's pick to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). News of Cornyn's hold emerged July 22 – one week after Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) lifted his hold on the nomination.

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EPA to Emphasize Environmental Justice Issues

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publicly committed to emphasizing environmental justice issues at a recent meeting of the agency's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC). EPA officials, including Administrator Lisa Jackson, described to the council ways in which the agency intends to reflect environmental justice concerns in the future as EPA formulates rules and emphasizes enforcement.

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New Version of Regulations.gov Unveiled

Jul 28, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Obama administration has launched a new version of Regulations.gov – the federally run website that allows users to comment on proposed regulations and find information in rulemaking dockets.

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After White House Interference, EPA to Reconsider Lead Monitoring

Jul 23, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday that it may require more air quality monitoring devices to be placed around the country to calculate levels of airborne lead.

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Another Hold Placed on Sunstein

Jul 22, 2009 by Matthew Madia

As reported by FoxNews.com this morning, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has placed a hold on Cass Sunstein, President Obama’s pick to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). Cornyn’s hold comes just one week after Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) lifted his hold on the nomination.

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Sotomayor Defends Opposition to Cost-Benefit Analysis in Fish Kill Case

Jul 16, 2009 by Matthew Madia

During her Senate confirmation hearings, Judge Sonia Sotomayor defended her belief that cost-benefit analysis is an inappropriate decisionmaking tool for writing certain regulations under the Clean Water Act. As a member of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Sotomayor authored an opinion striking down an EPA rule that would have allowed power plants to suck in and kill millions of fish if operators could show that compliance costs outweighed ecological benefits.

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