Citizen Health & Safety

Congressional Report on Data Quality Act Supports OMB Watch Findings

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) recently updated a report on the Data Quality Act (DQA) entitled The Information Quality Act: OMB's Guidance and Initial Implementation." The report summarizes the history of the DQA from its passage as an appropriations rider, through development of information quality guidelines, to the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) annual report to Congress. Several of the report's conclusions coincide with observations and recommendations made by OMB Watch in an analysis of OMB's annual DQA report to Congress.

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House Committee Blasts FDA for Delay on Antidepressant Warnings

Food and Drug Administration officials were forced before a House committee to defend their choice not to respond with precautionary measures despite mounting evidence from as early as 1996 that antidepressants could be causing increases in suicidality (both suicidal ideation and suicide attempts) in children.

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States Take Lead on Emissions Standards

Fearing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may stall or weaken federal regulation on diesel emissions, 11 states and the District of Columbia announced on Sept. 29 plans to implement California's standards for diesel fuel emissions as a backup to the federal regulation promulgated by EPA.

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Industry Influence Weakens USDA Dietary Guidelines

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which includes seven members with strong industry connections, recently released its recommendations for an update of Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Not surprisingly, the committee's recommendations for controlling intake of carbohydrates, sugars and fats were vague and weak, prompting 25 nutritionists to send a letter to HHS calling for stronger, clearer language.

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Court Declines to Bar Regionally Restricted Vehicle Recalls

The agency charged with keeping motor vehicles safe and reliable has been allowing automakers to restrict vehicle defect recalls to selected states rather than conduct recalls nationwide. Now a federal court has declined to bar such regionally restricted recalls. Regional Recalls

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So much for hours-of-service win...

Oct 4, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Remember the public interest victory in the hours-of-service case? A Department of Transportation agency proposed new rules governing the maximum number of hours in a stretch that trucking companies can force their workers to drive without rest or days off -- but the rule change would have permitted trucking companies to game the system and force their workers to drive much longer than even the old rules. Public Citizen won a court victory we described here.

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New Source Review rule hinders enforcement

Oct 1, 2004 by Guest Blogger

EPA's own Inspector General has released a report revealing that the New Source Review regulations (a regulatory rollback, discussed here, that essentially trades our clean air for the economic gain of power companies) are weakening EPA's enforcement activities: According to key enforcement officials, the NSR rule change is so dramatic that it has impacted OECA’s ongoing litigation, out-of-court settlements, and ne

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Environmental enforcement declines, redux

Oct 1, 2004 by Guest Blogger

We've mentioned before in this blog the reports from TRAC that quantify this administration's environmental enforcement record -- uneven and declining. Check out their latest report, which tracks the rates of declining enforcement with the specific environmental statutes that are decreasingly enforced; here's an excerpt: While the government's overall pollution enforcement effort is definitely down, the new data base shows that for last 12 years the government's enforcement trends have somewhat varied, depending on the particular statute under examination.

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    This is a job for Superfund! Or it would be...

    Oct 1, 2004 by Guest Blogger

    You make a mess, you clean it up: that's the classic principle behind Superfund, which forces polluters to pay for the clean-up of their messes. Forced, that is: Today, September 30th, marks the one year anniversary of the bankruptcy of the Superfund Trust Fund. The federal Superfund toxic waste program ran out of polluter-contributed funds exactly a year ago, leaving taxpayers with the entire bill. Once the Bush administration refused to honor the polluter pays principle, they stopped holding big oil and chemical companies accountable for the messes they made.

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    So much for bio-terror preparedness -- or the consumer

    Oct 1, 2004 by Guest Blogger

    You might think that a key component of bio-terrorism preparations would be securing the food supply, in part by letting people know where the food they're eating came from. You might think that, in an administration that seems to believe so devoutly in letting marketplace choices dictate outcomes, regulatory policy would do all that is necessary to give consumers the information they need to make real choices. Yeah, you might think that. Latest example in which you might think that but then would be wrong: country-of-origin labeling of seafood:

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