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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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Administration Issues Report on Small Business Paperwork

An administration task force, led by the Office of Management and Budget, published a draft report on May 9 that makes recommendations to reduce reporting burdens on small business. Comments on the report -- which is mandated by the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act (SBPRA), enacted a year ago -- are due by June 4. In the draft report, the task force addresses the following issues:

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    Administration Stifles Objections to Pentagon Pollution Exemptions

    Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator John Peter Suarez has expressed strong support for proposals to exempt the Department of Defense from a host of environmental laws despite serious objections from his own staff.

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    Administration Devalues the Elderly

    The elderly frequently suffer the consequences of a lifetime's exposure to industrial contaminants, including heart or lung failure from smog and soot, and cancer from toxic chemicals. Tens of thousands die prematurely every year as a result. Over the years, we have made significant strides in addressing these problems, and improving the quality of life for our seniors, through strong regulatory protections. Yet the Bush administration has recently taken steps that could halt this progress.

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    Administration Stacks Scientific Advisory Panels

    The Bush administration has been screening nominees for federal scientific advisory committees based on their political views rather than their scientific qualifications. Inevitably, as the list below documents, this has meant tilting committees -- whose findings frequently form the basis for regulation -- in favor of corporate interests and conservative ideologues. If you know of any examples we are missing, please e-mail our Regulatory Policy staff CDC Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning

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    After White House Delay, EPA Issues Children's Health Report

    After nine months of delay by the White House, EPA finally released its long-awaited report on children's health and the environment, finding, most notably, that 8 percent of women ages 16 to 49 have mercury levels in the blood that could lead to reduced IQ and motor-skills for their offspring.

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    Industry, OMB Press EPA to Offer Exemptions to Clean Air Standards

    At the urging of industry and the White House Office of Management and Budget, and in apparent violation of the Clean Air Act, EPA is considering whether to offer regulatory exemptions to facilities that emit hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) based on the level of health risks posed to surrounding communities. Such a move signals a desire within the administration to abandon stringent technology-based controls -- successfully employed for more than a decade -- which could significantly weaken clean air standards and result in more pollution over time.

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    OMB Proposes Changes in Regulatory Decision-Making

    OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) proposed new guidance February 3 that instructs federal agencies how to make regulatory decisions, including the specific analytical methods that should be employed.

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    OMB Blocks Nationwide Health Warning on Asbestos

    The White House Office of Management and the Budget (OMB) stepped in and killed EPA plans this past April to warn the American public that as many as 35 million homes might be insulated with asbestos-contaminated insulation, according to an investigative report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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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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    more resources