Citizen Health & Safety

While Sunstein Nomination Is Delayed, Regulatory Reform Waits

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has placed a hold on the nomination of Cass Sunstein, President Obama's pick to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). News of Cornyn's hold emerged July 22 – one week after Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) lifted his hold on the nomination.



read in full

EPA to Emphasize Environmental Justice Issues

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publicly committed to emphasizing environmental justice issues at a recent meeting of the agency's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC). EPA officials, including Administrator Lisa Jackson, described to the council ways in which the agency intends to reflect environmental justice concerns in the future as EPA formulates rules and emphasizes enforcement.

read in full

Reproductive Health Declines as Chemical Exposure Increases

Troubling national trends show increases in reproductive health problems as the widespread use of certain chemicals has increased dramatically. A new analysis of available data makes several recommendations for U.S. chemicals policy to address the growing health concerns and potential links to toxic chemicals. Among the recommendations is a call for greater public disclosure of chemical safety information, increased federal research on safer chemical substitutes, and removing political influence from assessments of chemical safety.

read in full

New Version of Regulations.gov Unveiled

Jul 28, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Obama administration has launched a new version of Regulations.gov – the federally run website that allows users to comment on proposed regulations and find information in rulemaking dockets.

read in full

NIH to Edit Wikipedia – A Slippery Slope?

Jul 28, 2009 by Roger Strother*

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has initiated a program to encourage its scientists to edit and create articles in the online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, Wikipedia.  Wikipedia is a widely used free resource on the web often criticized for its lack of reliability that results from its open editing format.  

read in full

After White House Interference, EPA to Reconsider Lead Monitoring

Jul 23, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday that it may require more air quality monitoring devices to be placed around the country to calculate levels of airborne lead.

read in full

Another Hold Placed on Sunstein

Jul 22, 2009 by Matthew Madia

As reported by FoxNews.com this morning, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has placed a hold on Cass Sunstein, President Obama’s pick to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). Cornyn’s hold comes just one week after Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) lifted his hold on the nomination.

read in full

Studies Showing Dangers of Cellphone Use while Driving Were Suppressed

Jul 21, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Bush administration shuttered a potentially groundbreaking research project designed to examine the effects of cellphone use on driver safety, and it suppressed information that could have shed more light on the problem, according to documents uncovered by Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety.

read in full

Labor Appointees to Pay Workers More Attention

Jul 20, 2009 by Matthew Madia

With the Department of Labor’s new leadership picture coming into focus, it’s clear that regulatory agencies responsible for protecting workers will undertake a more proactive agenda during the Obama administration.

read in full

Sotomayor Defends Opposition to Cost-Benefit Analysis in Fish Kill Case

Jul 16, 2009 by Matthew Madia

During her Senate confirmation hearings, Judge Sonia Sotomayor defended her belief that cost-benefit analysis is an inappropriate decisionmaking tool for writing certain regulations under the Clean Water Act. As a member of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Sotomayor authored an opinion striking down an EPA rule that would have allowed power plants to suck in and kill millions of fish if operators could show that compliance costs outweighed ecological benefits.

read in full

Pages

  • ©2025 Project On Government Oversight
  • All Rights Reserved.
  • This an archive site of the materials produced by the Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) and is maintained by the Project On Government Oversight.