Citizen Health & Safety

EPA's Lead Poison Prevention Program: From Bad to Worse

Jun 3, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Only a few months ago, EPA href="/article/blogs/entry/729/23">replaced plans for developing enforceable standards for lead poisoning prevention in home renovation with a plan for voluntary guidelines. EPA touted the voluntary plan as more flexible for remodeling and renovation companies, and concerned citizens decried the plan as a weakening of congressionally mandated public protections. Now EPA has taken yet another step in the wrong direction: withdrawing its plans for the voluntary standard completely. EPA now has no plans for protecting children and construction workers from lead

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House Considers CDBG But Avoids Attacking PART

In the wake of the White House's attempt to put the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program on the chopping block, a House subcommittee held a hearing to determine whether a program as diverse and flexible as CDBG could be evaluated using OMB's one-size-fits-all performance measurements. Factors Influencing the Hearing

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GOP Seeks Power to Restructure Entire Federal Government

The Bush administration's systematic dismantling of the public's protections could soon accelerate as Republican lawmakers prepare legislation that would permit the unrestrained restructuring of the entire federal government through results commissions and fast-track reorganization authority.

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Court Waters Down Toxic Release Inventory

A federal appeals court ruled May 10 that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can no longer require chemical facilities to report methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) releases under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). According to the 2003 TRI data, facilities released over 26 million pounds of MEK to the environment.

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OIRA Meets Regarding BART Rule

May 23, 2005 by Guest Blogger

OIRA met with representatives of Pacificorp power company, the White House's Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency regarding a Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) regulation on May 16. The rule, also known as the Clean Air Visibility Rule, would seek to limit regional haze by requiring power plants and factories to install the best available retrofit technology (BART) to control sulfur dioxide and other emissions. These emissions lead to visibility impairment, which is widespread throughout the national park system.

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Sneak attack on EPA turned away

May 20, 2005 by Guest Blogger

If you blinked, you missed it, but what was at stake was nothing less than the ability of the federal government to do anything for the environment: during the House consideration of the appropriations bill for Interior and EPA, Rep. Todd Tiahrt pushed an amendment "to provide that no funds may be used to promulgate regulations without outside auditing to determine the authenticity of the scientific methods used to develop such regulations." It was withdrawn.

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House Hearing Reveals Unethical Marketing of Vioxx

During a congressional hearing on May 5, the House Government Reform Committee harshly criticized both the Food and Drug Administration and drug makers for their role in approving and marketing Vioxx, an arthritis painkiller linked to heart disease.

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Bush Allows Governors to Challenge Roadless Rule

In yet another attack on our nation's wildlife, the Forest Service published a final rule May 13 that will allow governors to petition for changes to state forest management plans, effectively undoing the Clinton-era forest regulations known as the "roadless rule."

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Homeland Security Wins Power to Waive All Law

A stroke of the pen makes it final: President Bush signed into law the Iraq war supplemental, which includes a controversial provision giving the secretary of homeland security the power to waive all law when securing U.S. borders.

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Unified Agenda out today

May 16, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The semiannual Unified Agenda is available in today's Federal Register. It will eventually be available in database form on this site; until then, here are links to the PDFs of the agendas for certain key agencies:
  • Consumer Product Safety Commission
  • EPA
  • HHS
  • Interior
  • Labor
  • Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  • Transportation
  • USDA

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