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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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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New Small Business Program Will Influence Agency Regulatory Reviews

The Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy has launched a new program that may expand SBA's influence into agency regulatory activity. The Office of Advocacy acts as a liaison between the business community and the federal government, particularly the executive branch.

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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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For Regulatory Reviews, Too Many Cooks...

Aug 28, 2007 by Matthew Madia

The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy has launched a new program which will increase the Office's interference in federal agencies' regulatory practices — specifically, in the selection of regulations agencies choose to review after they have already taken effect. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report which describes what it calls retrospective reviews. These reviews are attempts by federal agencies to assess the effectiveness of federal regulations and identify opportunities for improvement.

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New Report Examines the Decline in Public Safeguards under Bush

Aug 27, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Last week, the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, released a report titled, "Safeguarding the American People: The Progressive Vision vs. the Bush Record."

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Administration May Ease Rules on Mountaintop Mining

Aug 23, 2007 by Matthew Madia

The Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) will propose a rule which would make it easier for mining companies to search for coal on mountaintops and dump the waste into nearby valleys and streams, according to The New York Times. Currently, federal regulations prohibit most mountaintop mining activities within 100 feet of streams. The rules are regularly flaunted. According to Earthjustice, a nonprofit group focused on environmental law, "1,208 miles of streams in Appalachia were destroyed from 1992 to 2002."

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New Report Examines Agency Review of Regulations

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a new report on the process by which federal regulatory agencies review regulations after they take effect. Agencies conduct reviews to comply with existing law, as a matter of agency policy, and in response to White House requests. The report finds the quality of reviews varies widely and determines the major barriers to more useful reviews are gaps in available data and problems with public participation.

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Bush Administration Skirts Broad Environmental Law

The Bush administration has expanded exclusions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The administration will allow private industry to engage in selected land management projects without first assessing the potential impact on the environment. Furthermore, by excluding these activities, the administration has stripped the public of its opportunity to provide input into potentially damaging projects.

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Cost-Benefit Analysis: More Trouble than It's Worth

Aug 17, 2007 by Matthew Madia

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report critiquing two EPA cost-benefit analyses on an oil spill prevention regulation. In 2002 and 2006, EPA amended the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule which requires oil-storage facilities to prepare plans in the event of an oil leak or spill. Because the amendments to the rule could have a significant impact on the economy, the White House required EPA to prepare cost-benefit analyses of both sets of amendments.

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Automakers Gear-Up to Stop Fuel Economy Reform

Aug 16, 2007 by Matthew Madia

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has the dirt on the efforts of the big three — General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — to mislead the public about the benefits of improved fuel efficiency. The automakers are holding a public rally as part of lobbying efforts to persuade federal legislators to abandon proposed fuel efficiency reform, according to UCS.

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