Political 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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House Hearing Reveals Unethical Marketing of Vioxx

During a congressional hearing on May 5, the House Government Reform Committee harshly criticized both the Food and Drug Administration and drug makers for their role in approving and marketing Vioxx, an arthritis painkiller linked to heart disease.

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Bush Allows Governors to Challenge Roadless Rule

In yet another attack on our nation's wildlife, the Forest Service published a final rule May 13 that will allow governors to petition for changes to state forest management plans, effectively undoing the Clinton-era forest regulations known as the "roadless rule."

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OIRA, Industry Meet over MSHA's Asbestos Rule

May 10, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the Mine Safety and Health Administration href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/oira/1219/meetings/434.html">have met with representatives from the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association over an MSHA proposed rule governing asbestos. According to MSHA's href="http://frwebgate4.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=758892 5993+1+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve">Regulatory Plan, released in December, the agency is planning on reducing the permissible exposure level for asbestos in an upcoming rulemaking.

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Special Interest Takeover: The Bush Administration and the Dismantling of Public Safeguards

SpecialInterest The Bush administration's first term was marked by a historic effort to eliminate the public's protections.

Download the full report.

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Anti-Regulatory Hit List Debated in House Hearing

The Bush administration again defended its anti-regulatory hit list to Congress, this time presenting the initiative as a boon to small manufacturers in a hearing before the House Small Business Committee that also featured renewed calls for regulatory sunsets. The committee's Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and Oversight held a hearing on April 28 to discuss the White House's hit list of regulatory protections to be weakened or eliminated supposedly for the benefit of the manufacturing sector.

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UMRA, Results Proposals Advance in Budget Resolution

The budget resolution Congress finally agreed upon last week incorporated language that endorses the establishment of a results commission and marks the first steps in the direction of turning the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) into an insurmountable obstacle for new protections of the public interest.

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When sunsets aren't pretty

Apr 30, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Rolling Stone featured an in-depth examination of the sunset commission proposal that was recently promoted in the White House budget submission and reportedly will soon be the subject of a legislative proposal. Get the Rolling Stone story here or here.

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Testimony on Hit List Before the House Small Business Committee

Download testimony of Robert Shull before the House Small Business Committee's Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and Oversight, concerning the OMB anti-regulatory hit list.

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Bush's Climate Change Politics Program

Apr 25, 2005 by Guest Blogger

It's no secret that the White House has been hostile to policy proposals addressing the problem of climate change, but in a letter to Sen. John McCain and John Kerry, GAO stated it found the program established by the Bush administration to study climate change has missed important deadlines and has failed to address how climate change will impact the environment and human health, information that is critical for the development of sound policy.

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OIRA Meets with Industry Over Safe Drinking-Water Rules

Apr 20, 2005 by Guest Blogger

OIRA met with representatives from the American Water Works Association on April 14 regarding three safe drinking-water rules: the Groundwater Rule, the Long-Term Surface Treatment Rule, Phase 2 and the Disinfection Byproducts Rule Stage 2. All three rules were listed in EPA's 2004 Regulatory Plan as high priorities for the agency. According to the agency:

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