The Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) ceased operations as of March 2016. The majority of work and materials has been passed on to the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). This site is being maintained as an archive of materials produced.
The Forest Service recently issued standards allowing timber projects to eschew environmental assessments and impact statements -- normally required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) -- provided that the affected area poses a risk of wildfire or contains insect-infested or diseased trees.
The measures outline three categorical NEPA exemptions that would allow the harvesting of up to 70 acres of live trees (up from 50 in the proposal), the removal of up to 250 acres of dead or dying trees, and the removal of up to 250 acres of insect-infested or diseased areas.
Senate Republicans recently agreed to set aside their energy bill (S. 14) after negotiations had reached a standstill and instead passed last year's Democratic version (formerly H.R. 4) by a vote of 84 to 14 on July 31.
On May 21st the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a data quality petition with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), challenging an internal report used to support the agency's finding that trumpeter swans do not constitute a Distinct Population Segment (DPS). The finding responsed to a lawsuit by the Biodiversity Legal Fund and the Fund for Animals that sought DPS designation for the rocky mountain trumpeter swan in order to qualify the swans for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The Bush administration has agreed to reconsider a final rule issued in December that weakens air-pollution standards for factories, refineries, and power plants.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed several changes to the Form R under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) in an attempt to better organize data collection, after receiving feedback from stakeholders.
A federal district court in Wyoming recently struck down the Clinton-era roadless rule, which protects 58.5 million acres of pristine U.S. Forest Service lands from logging and development -- the latest in a series of court decisions concerning the measure.
A federal judge in Idaho previously struck down the rule in May of 2001, but it was subsequently reinstated on appeal in December of 2002. There are currently nine lawsuits over the rule pending in seven different states.
The chemical revolution over the last 50 years has brought great benefits; it has also exposed us to unknown risks from thousands of untested chemicals that now circulate around us and inside of us.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has agreed to analyze Sen. Tom Carper’s (D-DE) “Clean Air Planning Act” (S. 3135) with the same model used to show increased benefits for President Bush’s Clear Skies plan.
The House Government Reform committee recently held a hearing on a bill (H.R. 2432), sponsored by Rep. Doug Ose (R-CA), that would test regulatory budgeting at five agencies, including EPA and the departments of Labor and Transportation.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in a recent guidance document, declared that applying pesticides directly in or above U.S. waters with the purpose of controlling insects does not require a pollutant discharge permit under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
