The second federal court to address judicial reviewability of the Data Quality Act (DQA) and its subsequent guidelines has found that neither the DQA nor the Administrative Procedure Act permits judicial review. The court also found that plaintiffs, the Salt Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who filed the lawsuit against the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) over statements about the health benefits from lower sodium diets, lacked any legal standing. Based on these findings, the court dismissed the case on Nov. 15.

How to stay on top of appointments news and rumors • Learn about the mad cow scare — and the unaddressed weaknesses in safeguards against mad cow disease • EPA rollback killing children • And more news briefs and alerts! Do the Cabinet Shuffle: Who will be running the agencies in the next term of the Bush administration? Stay on top of the latest news and rumors in REG•WATCH, our regulatory policy weblog.

The National Academies biased a panel to study the risks from disposing coal wastes in abandoned mines by appointing six members with ties to the mining, coal, and electric utility industries, of whom two have subsequently stepped down after criticism from public interest groups.

Two new cases of mad cow disease found in Canada serve as a dramatic reminder of the need for improved safeguards against the disease here in the U.S.