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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

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...

read in full

more news

Krill Protection Rule Clears White House

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is proposing to prohibit fishing for krill, an important species in the marine ecosystem, in U.S. waters. The proposed rule comes after NOAA responded to objections from the White House.

read in full

Krill Rule Clears White House, Opens for Comment

May 23, 2008 by Matthew Madia

On Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) proposed a rule to ban the harvest of krill in U.S. waters off the west coast. Krill are small shrimp-like crustaceans abundant in the Pacific Ocean. They are a vital link in the marine food chain and serve as a food source for a variety of marine animals including whales, salmon and some sea birds.

read in full

Update on EPA Changes to the IRIS Assessment Process

May 21, 2008 by Matthew Madia

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently made changes to its program for studying the toxic effects of industrial chemicals — the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). Under the revised process, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is given unprecedented control over the content and conduct of these studies. Today, OMB Watch released a factsheet "OMB Interferes in IRIS Assessments of Toxic Chemicals," which details the problems with the revised process. The factsheet answers the following questions:

What is IRIS?

read in full

White House Thwarted State Efforts on CO2 Emissions

May 20, 2008 by Matthew Madia

An investigation by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee shows that the White House pressured the Environmental Protection Agency to refuse a request by the state of California to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

read in full

Shrimpers Ask for Regulation, but Can FDA Help?

May 19, 2008 by Matthew Madia

An article in The Daily News (Galveston County, TX) provides yet another example of industry groups asking for federal regulation, realizing that safety is good for business. (Thanks to the Government Accountability Project blog for pointing this out.) Domestic shrimpers — whose share of the American market has fallen to ten percent, according to the article — want new laws that will empower the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to inspect imported shrimp:

read in full

Polar Bear Called "Threatened," Federal Protection to Follow

May 15, 2008 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, after a period of long delay, the Department of the Interior announced it would list the polar bear as a "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act. Designating a species as threatened is not as serious as calling it endangered, but it still affords the species federal protections and special considerations. The debate over whether to list the polar bear has been a hot button issue, because the main threat to the species is global climate change which is affecting the ice cover and sea conditions the bear needs to subsist.

read in full

Bush Sets Policy on Midnight Regulations

May 13, 2008 by Matthew Madia

Friday, White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten sent a memo to the heads of federal agencies outlining the administration's policy on rules those agencies want to finalize by the end of the Bush administration. The memo states, "Except in extraordinary circumstances, regulations to be finalized in this Administration should be proposed no later than June 1, 2008, and final regulations should be issued no later than November 1, 2008." So, agencies will have just three weeks to announce proposed rules they want to finalize by year's end.

read in full

OMB Interference under Scrutiny in Congress

The White House Office of Management and Budget's review of federal agencies' draft regulations and scientific information was highlighted in two congressional hearings the week of May 5. The review process gives Office of Management and Budget (OMB) officials an opportunity to delay or undermine public health and safety standards. One hearing examined the constitutional implications of OMB review, the other the scientific implications.

read in full

White House Blocking Whale Protection Rule

Multiple White House offices are working in concert to block a new policy that would expand federal protections for the North Atlantic right whale. The offices, including the office of Vice President Cheney, are questioning the findings of scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the agency attempting to finalize the rule.

read in full

Criminal Investigation of Utah Mine Officials Urged

On May 8, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, released the results of a nine-month committee investigation into the collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah. In the memorandum summarizing the investigation, Miller reveals that he sent a letter of criminal referral to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recommending the agency investigate the mine's general manager.

read in full