Latest Watcher

Be sure to check out the latest issue of our biweekly newsletter, The Watcher. Regulatory policy articles this time: OMB Manipulated Climate Science, Report Says Miners Detail MSHA's Failings in Emotional Testimony FDA Issues New Conflict of Interest Guidelines

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Washington Post on Industry Financing of FDA

In today's Washington Post, regulatory policy columnist Cindy Skrzycki has a piece on FDA user-fees — money pharmaceutical companies pay so that FDA can conduct safety studies on specific drugs. The column discusses the upcoming reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, as well as FDA's growing penchant for using industry money to fund agency activities. Check it out here.

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RTK NET Publishes 2005 Toxics Release Inventory Data

The Right-to-Know Network (RTK NET) published the 2005 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data on March 23, providing public access to important U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data on the release and transfer of toxic chemicals in the United States. This is EPA's earliest release of the annual TRI data in the history of the program.

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FDA Issues New Conflict of Interest Guidelines

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposal that revised its criteria for determining whether scientific advisory committee members have financial conflicts of interest. The guidance, which would be nonbinding if adopted, is in its draft form and will be open for comment upon publication in the Federal Register. The guidance simplifies FDA's process for determining financial conflicts of interest. It also details exceptions agency personnel can make to allow scientists with conflicts of interest to serve on panels. The proposal comes as FDA faces increasing scrutiny over its ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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CEQ Guidance Adds Needed Details to Bush Executive Order

On March 29, President George W. Bush's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released guidance to agencies that explains in greater detail how to implement the president's recent environmental order. On Jan. 24, Bush issued Executive Order (E.O.) 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management. The order replaced five detailed environmental orders, issued by President Bill Clinton, with vaguer, less aggressive provisions that broaden agency exemptions and consolidate power in executive offices.

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OMB Manipulated Climate Science, Report Says

Political officials throughout the Bush administration have edited and manipulated climate science communications, according to a recent report by a nonprofit watchdog group. Evidence shows the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to be involved in the manipulation.

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Miners Detail MSHA's Failings in Emotional Testimony

On March 28, the House Committee on Education and Labor heard emotional testimony from miners and miners' families about the dangerous conditions that currently exist in the coal industry, despite recent federal legislation that addresses mine safety. The main focus of the hearing was to provide a forum for the families and miners to argue for legislative and regulatory action similar to laws recently passed in West Virginia and Kentucky and to describe conditions in the mines.

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Freedom of Information Act

5 U.S.C. § 552 As Amended in 2002 § 552.

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Supreme Court Says CO2 Should Be Regulated

The Clean Air Act is clear in stating the federal government should reduce the presence of harmful air pollutants. However, for years the Bush administration has ignored one of America's premiere environmental laws and failed to address perhaps the world's most harmful emissions: greenhouse gases. Today, the Supreme Court set the record straight. In what will surely be hailed as a landmark decision, the court ruled 5-4 the federal government can regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The ruling comes at an ideal time, as Congress and the American people are realizing the time to combat global climate change has arrived. Moreover, it proves the virtue of checks and balances in our democracy, as the Supreme Court has checked the Bush administration's failure to execute its constitutionally charged duties. For more from the Natural Resources Defense Council, click here. For background on the court case, click here.

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EPA Gets Cozy with Industry Once Again

EPA has finalized a new rule on soot that is a hand-out to the power industry. The rule will allow utilities to buy their way out of installing the latest and most effective technology for controlling soot emissions. Get the full scoop from Clean Air Watch's Blog for Clean Air.

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