Political Interference | Center for Effective Government

Administration Advances Few Health, Safety and Environmental Protections

January 2003 Update The Bush administration has advanced very few significant health, safety and environmental protections over the last two years -- much fewer than the two previous administrations -- and is quietly scuttling work on a host of protective standards in the regulatory pipeline, according to data compiled by OMB Watch.

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Proposed Forest Rule Creates NEPA Loophole

A new U.S. Forest Service rule would grant an exemption to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for certain small timber sales. The rule, which was proposed last week, would allow timber projects to eschew environmental assessments and impact statements -- normally required under NEPA -- provided that the project area poses a risk of wildfire or contains insect-infested or diseased trees.

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EPA-OMB Collaboration on Diesel Moves Forward

In an “unusual collaboration,” EPA and OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) are drafting new standards to restrict emissions from off-road diesel-powered vehicles, such as bulldozers and tractors. According to the Washington Post, EPA expects to issue a proposed rule next spring that will require emissions to be reduced by as much as 95 percent, in line with recently adopted standards for heavy-duty trucks.

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OMB Initiates Sweeping Review of Regulation

OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is instructing federal agencies to evaluate hundreds of regulatory recommendations submitted by outside parties as part of its new annual report on the costs and benefits of regulation.

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Administration Issues Weak Rule on Livestock Waste

Answering a court-imposed deadline, the Bush administration issued a weak final rule to limit runoff from livestock waste at large factory farms, which produce 220 billion gallons of liquefied manure each year. The rule waters down a previous Clinton-era proposal, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Washington Post, by reducing the number of affected operations by more than half; allowing factory farms to write their own permit conditions; and limiting the liability of major corporations for illegal spills by their subcontractors.

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Bush Administration Proposes to Gut Forest Protection Rule

Two days before Thanksgiving the Bush administration quietly approved a proposal that would gut current forest protection regulations by removing requirements to protect forest wildlife and ecology, and by eliminating the requirement of an analysis that serves as the key mechanism for informing the public of the environmental impacts of forest management plans, among other de-regulatory changes to the rule. USDA will be accepting comments on the proposed rule for 90 days. You can send comments opposing the rollback of this rule, through OMB Watch's Activist Central service.

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EPA Rolls Back Clean Air Protections

The Bush administration announced on November 22 that it is rolling back protections to limit air pollution from factories, refineries and power plants as part of a long-expected overhaul of EPA’s New Source Review program. Specifically, EPA issued a final rule that:

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Report Documents Steep Decline in Environmental Enforcement

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appears to be relaxing its enforcement efforts, with civil penalties declining by half over the Bush administration’s first full fiscal year, according to a new report by the Rockefeller Family Fund's Environmental Integrity Project.

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OMB Builds Record of Rollbacks

Under the leadership of John Graham, OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is increasingly using its regulatory review authority to weaken or block health, safety, and environmental standards.

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OMB Weakens Hazardous Waste Rule

Using its regulatory review authority, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) blocked an EPA effort to protect soil and drinking water from excessive levels of manganese -- an industrial by-product linked to numerous health problems, including respiratory problems, sexual dysfunction, nervous system issues, mental and emotional disturbances, as well as manganism, a disease with symptoms similar to Parkinson's.

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