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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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White House Rejects Krill Protection Rule

The White House has rejected an effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to protect krill, an important marine species abundant in the Pacific Ocean. NOAA's proposed rule is a precautionary measure aimed at protecting krill in the future but was rejected by White House officials for failing to identify a need for the regulation.

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Bush Fuel Economy Measure Rejected by Court

A U.S. court of appeals has overturned a recent National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) rule that revised a national standard for fuel economy. Environmentalists hailed the ruling as a victory and framed it as condemnation of the Bush administration's record on fuel economy and global warming.

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OMB and EU Discuss Regulation and International Trade

The European Commission and the White House Office of Management and Budget have released a joint draft report titled, "Review of the application of EU and US regulatory impact assessment guidelines on the analysis of impacts on international trade and investment." The report describes the system by which the European Union (EU) and the U.S. examine proposed regulations for their potential impacts on foreign parties and/or international trade.

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EPA Official Sets the Record Straight

EPA Deputy Administrator has put up an interesting post on his blog "Flow of the River." EPA is in the middle of a rulemaking which would tighten the air quality standard for ozone, a.k.a. smog. The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set the standard based on public health considerations. Peacock writes, I have something to say today for the sake of those many states, cities, counties and other local entities that have been commenting on EPA's proposal to tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone:

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Vice President Reemerging in Regulatory Review Meetings

Representatives from the office of Vice President Richard Cheney have been involved in three current administration rulemakings. Their presence is indicative of a recent trend in which Cheney has involved his office in high-profile regulations.

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Latest Analyses from OMB Watch

Every two weeks, in OMB Watch's e-newsletter The Watcher, we analyze a few recent issues in regulatory policy. Here are the articles from the October 23 issue: While Feds Dither, States Move to Regulate Greenhouse Gases Kansas has rejected an air permit for proposed power plants due to the threat of the resulting greenhouse gas emissions. The decision makes Kansas the latest state to take proactive steps to stem greenhouse gas emissions while federal agencies and Congress delay action. Read more... Bush Administration Tries to Reverse Old-Growth Forest Protection Plan

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While Feds Dither, States Move to Regulate Greenhouse Gases

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has rejected an air permit for proposed power plants due to the threat of the resulting greenhouse gas emissions. The decision makes Kansas the latest state to take proactive steps to stem greenhouse gas emissions while federal agencies and Congress delay action and White House officials continue to question climate science.

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Bush Administration Tries to Reverse Old-Growth Forest Protection Plan

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is trying to dismantle a 1994 landmark management plan that balances logging, endangered species and old-growth forest protections. BLM wants to revise the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) to allow logging on nearly one million acres of old-growth forest area included in the plan that protect habitats for species such as the northern spotted owl, salmon and other old-growth-dependent species. The proposed revisions ignore scientific recommendations, and the process appears to have been manipulated by Bush administration officials in Washington.

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Senate Amendment Would Threaten Federal Programs; Tell Your Senator to Vote "No."

Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) has introduced an amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill (H.R. 3043) that would threaten the budgets of important federal programs. The amendment would tie a program's budget to the White House Office of Management and Budget's Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) — a flawed measure of a program's effectiveness and efficiency. Allard's amendment would make PART ratings a trigger for budget cuts. If a program is rated "ineffective" by OMB assessors, the budget of that program would be automatically cut by 10 percent.

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CSS Supports House Effort to Stop Bush's Regulatory Changes

On behalf of Citizens for Sensible Safeguards, OMB Watch Director of Regulatory Policy Rick Melberth wrote to Congressmen Brad Miller (D-NC) and Linda Sanchez (D-CA) in support of their efforts to curb President Bush's recent attempts to further manipulate and control the regulatory process. Find out more by downloading the letter.

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Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

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A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

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