Citizen Health & Safety

Alexander Remarks on Unfunded Mandates

Relevant excerpts and full text of remarks by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) before the National League of Cities, addressing reforms to UMRA

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OMB Watch Comments on TRI Reporting Form Burden Reduction

OMB Watch submitted comments March 11 on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed rule on burden reduction options for the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). This first proposed rule for TRI burden reduction is not extremely controversial, but still poses some threat to the integrity and accessibility of the information. A larger burden reduction rule will come later this year, which will constitute a much more significant threat to the quantity and quality of TRI information.

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OIRA releases final hit list and new reg report

Mar 11, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Wednesday was a big day for OIRA: the office released both the final selections from the industry-nominated hit list and this year's annual draft report on the costs and benefits of regulations. Hit List: What the White House released is a selection of 76 out of the original 189 anti-reg nominations for the hit list. These are the hit list suggestions that the White House and the agencies are endorsing as anti-regulatory priorities.

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Timber Industry Rewrites CA Forest Plan

Mar 10, 2005 by Guest Blogger

A new California forest management plan that would triple the annual timber harvest from national forests in the Sierra Nevada was (surprise, surprise) written by industry, according to a press release from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. A California Forest Association lawsuit would install the timber industry's deforestation plan and insulate the plan from further legal challenges through a settlement. PEER has filed in court to intervene in the settlement. From the press release:

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EPA's Rigged Use of Cost-Benefit Analysis

Mar 8, 2005 by Guest Blogger

EPA's use of cost-benefit analysis in developing proposed mercury control regulations was deeply flawed, according to a GAO report released yesterday. The report examined how EPA used different variables when comparing different proposals so that the cost-benefit analysis was weighted towards the industry-preferred cap-and-trade method. GAO identified "four major shortcomings in the economic analysis underlying EPA's proposed mercury control options:"

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Cap-and-Trade

Cap-and-trade is a method for controlling a variety of pollution emissions by setting an emission standard for polluters and then allowing polluters to trade emissions up to a certain cap. This industry-friendly approach has had moderate success in controlling pollution without putting "undue burden" on industry. However, it is often opposed by environmentalists and public interest groups because while lowering the overall emissions levels, it may increase harmful emissions in some areas. Hot Spots

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Senate Nixes New Right for Business to Restrict Information

The Senate rejected today a controversial amendment to a bankruptcy reform bill that would have given corporate special interests new incentives to refuse to provide information necessary for protecting the public.

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Studies on Health Risks from Pollutants Verify Need for Safeguards

Several recently published scientific studies on the negative health impacts of depleted uranium, diesel engines, mercury and urban pollutants underscore the need for stronger environmental regulations to protect public health. In this article:
  • Depleted Uranium May Have Same Health Effects as Lead
  • Diesel Pollution Causes 21,000 Premature Deaths Each Year
  • Mercury Reduces IQs of 300,000 to 600,000 Children Annually
  • Urban Pollution Can Lead to Genetic Alterations, Cancer
Depleted Uranium Not Harmless

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White House Cuts Entire Chapter from Economic Report

The National Security Council (NSC) had an entire chapter on Iraq’s economy deleted from the “Economic Report of the President” simply because it would interfere with the positive tone of the rest of the report. The report is produced annually by the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), a supposedly independent advisory entity. The unprecedented move is yet another example of the Bush administration’s willingness to manipulate expert and scientific information for political reasons.

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Coalition Opposes Santorum Amendment to Bankruptcy Bill

Download CSS letter to the Senate opposing the anti-regulatory components of the Santorum amendment to the bankruptcy bill (S. 256).

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