The number of toxic waste sites cleaned up under the Superfund program declined for the third straight year, according to a recent EPA report. In fiscal year 2003, EPA completed work at just 40 toxic waste sites, compared with 42 in FY 2002 and 47 in FY 2001. In the last four years of the Clinton administration, EPA completed an average of 87 cleanups per year. “We just have fewer dollars to start new projects,” Marianne Horinko, an EPA associate administrator who oversees toxic cleanup, told the New York Times.

Under the Bush administration, OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has significantly affected the substance of health, safety and environmental standards but failed to consistently document its influence, according to a report by the General Accounting Office (GAO).

The Bush administration recently announced it is ending a Clinton-era policy that restricted the amount of public land mining companies can use for dumping waste.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued watered-down standards requiring food importers to provide advanced notice of shipments bound for the United States. The standards were mandated by the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, which was passed in response to concerns about terrorist attacks on the nation’s food supply.