The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) understated the risks of mad cow disease and misled the public, according to a bipartisan investigation by the House Government Reform Committee. At issue is whether the cow that recently tested positive for the disease in Washington state was a “downer,” meaning that it was unable to walk. Contrary to the USDA’s contention, three eyewitnesses say that the cow was able to walk and did not appear to be sick at all.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled Jan. 21 that EPA has authority to overrule a state construction permit that, as judged by the agency, violates air quality standards. In doing so, the court rejected the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s claim that EPA lacked the authority to block construction of a power plant at Teck Cominco Alaska Inc.’s Red Dog Mine, the world’s largest zinc mine, located in northwest Alaska. (Cominco sought more generating capacity to expand zinc production by 40 percent.)

The Commerce Department released a report Jan. 16 on U.S. manufacturing that calls on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review existing regulations and implement reforms “on a priority basis” to reduce costs on manufacturers. Curiously, the report does not mention that OMB actually did this during the first two years of the Bush administration, using its annual report to Congress on federal regulation to identify and weaken a host of significant standards, such as controls on power-plant emissions.

A federal appeals court overturned a Bush rollback of air conditioner efficiency standards, finding that it violated the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act, which prohibits such backsliding. The Clinton administration, in its final weeks, required that most new air conditioners and heat pumps be made 30 percent more energy efficient by 2006. But the Bush administration immediately lowered this requirement to 20 percent, which would have created substantially more demand for power.