Citizen Health & Safety

House Votes to Block Country of Origin Meat Labeling

The House, acting with the support of the Bush administration, recently voted to block implementation of standards that require meat and meat products to bear a label indicating their country of origin. These country of origin labeling (COOL) requirements, which were mandated by the 2002 farm bill, were conceived to help consumers identify American-made products, and are seen as increasingly important due to the recent discovery of mad cow disease in Canada.

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Increase In Rollovers Leads to Highest Highway Fatality Rate Since 1990

Highway fatalities, boosted by a rise in the number of rollover crashes, increased by 1.5 percent in 2002, reaching the highest level since 1990, according to data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Rollover crashes -- which increased by 5 percent, from 10,157 in 2001 to 10,666 in 2002 -- accounted for 82 percent of the total fatality increase. The number of persons killed in sport utility vehicles (SUVs) that rolled over increased as well – by 14 percent.

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USDA Issues Long-Awaited Listeria Standards

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently issued long-awaited standards to control listeria monocytogenes (commonly known as listeria), a dangerous food-borne bacterium often found in ready-to-eat foods.

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Forest Service Challenged on Categorical Exclusions for Small Timber Harvesting

In March 2003 the John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute, Sierra Club and Heartwood filed a data quality challenge with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The groups sought a correction of information related to January 8, 2003 Federal Register notice for the "National Environmental Policy Act Documentation Needed for Limited Timber Harvest." The Forest Service used information from monitoring timber sales in order to develop new criteria on limited tree removal Categorical Exclusions (CEs), under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Background Information

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Environmental Groups File Data Quality Challenge on Forest Service Proposed Rule

A request filed recently to the U.S. Department of Agriculture challenges the data quality of information supporting a Forest Service Federal Register Notice for Proposed Rulemaking, specifically information referred to in the National Forest System Land and Resource Management Planning (LRMP) proposed rulemaking. The request was jointly filed by Sierra Club, John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute, Gifford Pinchot Task Force, National Forest Protection Alliance and Heartwood.

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Feedback Meeting on ECHO

On July 8th Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials from the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) met with various environmental and public interest groups to hear feedback on the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) project. JP Suarez, the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, chaired the meeting.

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EPA Refuses to Release RMP Data

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has denied OMB Watch’s request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for Executive Summaries of the Risk Management Plans (RMPs). This marks the first instance, of which OMB Watch is aware, that EPA has denied a request for information specifically collected to inform the public about homeland security risks they face.

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FDA Relaxes Standards for Health Claims on Food Labels

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced its intent to relax restrictions on food manufacturers for making claims about the health benefits of products. FDA will allow companies to petition the agency for review of claims about the healthfulness of their products based on preliminary scientific information—a departure from its current practice of approving only those claims supported by conclusive scientific evidence.

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Administration Hides Favorable Data for 'Clear Skies' Alternative

The Bush administration recently attempted to hide an analysis showing that a rival Senate plan would achieve greater public health and environmental benefits than the president’s Clear Skies Initiative, at only a slightly higher cost.

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GAO Finds Oversight of Medicaid Waivers Lacking

The Bush administration, through the use of waivers, has given states flexibility in administering Medicaid, but has failed to adequately oversee these programs, according to a recent report by the Government Accounting Office (GAO). The use of Medicaid waivers, which exempt states from federal regulations and potentially enable them to tailor programs to meet state-specific needs, has grown significantly over the past decade. In particular, states have increasingly sought home and community-based services (HCBS) waivers in order to provide non-institutional long-term care for the elderly.

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