Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced legislation (H.R. 5292) last week that seeks to ensure federal contractors follow the law by creating a centralized database on actions taken against them, including government lawsuits, consent decrees, and administrative agreements. The legislation, which is co-sponsored by Reps. Stephen Horn (R-CA) and Jim Turner (D-TX), follows a report by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), as well as articles in U.S. News & World Report and Mother Jones, which demonstrated that many of the largest federal contractors are also major league lawbreakers.

In what appears to be part of a broad effort to reshape air regulation, OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) apparently forced EPA to withdraw two proposed emissions standards for stationary internal combustion engines and industrial boilers, insisting that the agency make changes that may be inconsistent with the Clean Air Act.

Gary D. Bass, Ph.D. testified before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs on the Regulatory Right-to-Know Act and Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis today. Statement of Gary D. Bass, Ph.D. Executive Director OMB Watch Before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs On The Regulatory Right-to-Know Act and Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis April 22, 1999 Thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding S. 59, the Regulatory Right-to-Know Act (Regulatory Accounting), and the establishment of a Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis (CORA).

A U.S. appeals court threw out EPA's recent clean air standards on May 14 in an irresponsible attack on well-established principles of administrative governance. Two of the three ruling judges, both Reagan appointees, found that the section of the Clean Air Act on which the EPA standards are based amounts to "an unconstitutional delegation of power," marking a major victory for the oil companies, auto manufacturers, and other polluters that spent millions trying to defeat the standards.