Industry Influence and Interference

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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As OMB Reviews, Industry Voices Opposition to OSHA Regulation

Oct 26, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Thanks to the Pump Handle blog for pointing out this story. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are lobbying the White House, potentially with the aim of derailing an important worker safety rule. The Pump Handle has some background on the rule:

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OSHA's Position on Diacetyl Is Emblematic of Bush Preference for Voluntary Standards

Oct 15, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Edwin Foulke, Administrator of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, says the agency will not pursue an emergency rulemaking for diacetyl but will instead choose to let industry police itself, according to Inside OSHA (subscription). Workers exposed to diacetyl, a chemical used to give microwave popcorn its buttery flavor, are at risk for a severe and sometimes fatal lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans.

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More on the California Waiver Controversy

Sep 25, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Earlier, Reg•Watch blogged about the concerted lobbying efforts of senior administration officials intent on killing an effort by the state of California to enact its own greenhouse gas reduction program.

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Congress Expands FDA User Fee Program, Reforms Drug Safety Process

Congress has passed legislation which will reauthorize a program allowing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to collect fees from pharmaceutical companies in order to conduct drug approvals. The bill will also dramatically expand FDA's regulatory authority in response to recent controversy. President George W. Bush is expected to sign the bill into law soon.

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For Better or Worse, Industry Pushes for Regulation

Sep 17, 2007 by Matthew Madia

The Sunday New York Times featured an article on the efforts of U.S. industry groups to push for federal regulation. As the article points out, this represents a marked shift in the traditional conception of industry's views on regulation. Historically, industry representatives often see regulation as costly and vexing. A graphic in the article briefly summarizes 14 examples of new federal regulations supported by manufacturers or industry lobbyists.

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For Congress, an Opportunity to Limit Conflicts of Interest at FDA

Sep 12, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, Reg•Watch blogged about Congress's FDA reform bill which has passed the House and the Senate but is now stuck in a conference committee charged with reconciling the two versions.

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Latest Watcher

Sep 12, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Be sure to check out the latest issue of our biweekly newsletter, The Watcher. Regulatory policy articles this time: Federal Agencies Knew of Diacetyl Dangers and Kept Silent Bush's Anti-Regulatory Ideology under Increasing Scrutiny It's Industry vs. Consumers and Health Specialists in National Ozone Hearings

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Startling Increase in Adverse Effects of Drugs

Sep 11, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, The Chicago Tribune published a story about a new medical study that has found a dramatic increase in adverse effects associated with prescription drugs. According to the article, "The annual number of 'serious adverse event' reports jumped to 89,842 in 2005 from 34,966 in 1998. Meanwhile, the number of 'fatal adverse drug events' increased nearly threefold to 15,107 in 2005 from 5,519 in 1998."

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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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