Citizen Health & Safety

Data Quality Challenge Filed on Title IX

The Department of Education (ED) received its first data quality petition February 26, 2003 challenging dissemination of a report examining sports opportunities for women and men under Title IX. The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) and the College Sports Council (CSC) jointly filed the data quality petition.

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OMB Finalizes Changes to Regulatory Decision-Making

OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) issued final guidance today that instructs federal agencies on specific analytical methods for regulatory decisions. This guidance, which contains few substantive changes from the draft version released in February, commits to put “more emphasis on cost-effectiveness analysis as well as benefit-cost analysis” than the Clinton-era guidance it replaces -- raising the bar on new health, safety and environmental protections. Specifically, the guidance:

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    Senate Votes to Repeal FCC Media Ownership Rules

    The Senate recently voted to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) controversial new media ownership rules that would allow media conglomerates to own more newspapers, as well as television and radio stations. Invoking the rarely used

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    Senate Votes to Block Overtime Changes Despite Veto Threat

    The Senate recently voted to block changes that would strip millions of workers of eligibility for overtime pay, despite the threat of a presidential veto. The Bush administration, on March 31, proposed changes to federal overtime standards that would make it easier for employers to deny overtime compensation to certain workers while guaranteeing time-and-a-half pay for those earning less than $22,100.

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    Agencies Slow to Implement Environmental Justice Order

    EPA and the departments of Interior, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development have not fully incorporated environmental justice principles into their work as required by a Clinton-era executive order, according to a report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR). The USCCR found that the four agencies have made progress in addressing environmental justice but noted a number of shortcomings. Specifically:

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      Administration Refuses to Act on Greenhouse Gases from Automobiles

      EPA recently denied a petition from environmental organizations imploring the agency to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. The petitioners -- Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and the International Center for Technology Assessment -- argued that EPA is obligated by the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases emitted from mobile sources. The agency countered that it does not have such authority and stated its belief that “setting GHG [greenhouse gas] emission standards for motor vehicles is not appropriate at this time.”

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      Administration Relaxes Emergency Room Standards

      The Bush administration recently eased emergency room standards in ways that may make it more difficult to receive medical care. Due to the administration’s changes:
      • Patients may have trouble seeing specialists in a timely manner. The new measures give hospitals greater discretion in developing “on-call” lists for staffing emergency rooms. Doctors will now be permitted to be on-call simultaneously at more than one hospital and will be allowed to perform elective surgeries while on-call.
      • Patients may be denied care by certain facilities.

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      EPA Allows Sales of PCB-Contaminated Sites

      EPA recently lifted a 25-year ban on the sale of land contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, according to USA Today. The newspaper obtained an Aug. 14 internal memo in which an agency official called the ban “an unnecessary barrier to redevelopment.” Previously, polluted properties could not be sold until PCBs were cleaned up. The policy change will make it more difficult to track the sale of contaminated sites, of which there are more than 1,000 nationwide, according to EPA officials.

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      Administration Moves to Allow Snowmobiles in National Parks

      The Bush administration recently proposed standards to allow the continued use of snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, overturning a Clinton-era ban that was never allowed to take effect.

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      EPA Rolls Back Clean Air Standards for Power Plants

      The Bush administration recently approved a major rollback of the nation’s clean air standards that will allow increased pollution from the oldest and dirtiest power plants. Under the rule changes, these plants can upgrade their facilities without having to install the latest anti-pollution controls (as they were previously required to do under EPA's New Source Review program) even if it results in new emissions. Anti-pollution controls must be added only if upgrades exceed 20 percent of the value of all equipment used to produce electricity, an extremely high threshold.

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