Citizen Health & Safety

Overdue OSHA Rule Will Improve Safety Conditions for Crane Workers

Aug 9, 2010 by Matthew Madia

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is finally setting new safety standards for cranes and derrick use in the construction industry. OSHA estimates the new standards will save 22 lives and prevent 175 injuries every year.

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Big Upgrade for Federal Register Online

Aug 4, 2010 by Matthew Madia

The Federal Register unveiled a slick new website last week that should allow the public to find proposed and final rules more easily.

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House Moves to Reform Advisory Committees

Aug 3, 2010 by Matthew Madia

We’re a little late in reporting this, but on July 26, the House passed a bill to improve the transparency and accountability of federal advisory committees.

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EPA Rejects Challenge to Climate Change Finding

Jul 30, 2010 by Rachel Sauter*

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 29 denied 10 petitions challenging its 2009 finding that climate change caused by greenhouse gases poses a threat to human health and the environment. EPA made the endangerment finding in response to a 2007 Supreme Court case that held that greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, and are therefore subject to regulation by EPA.

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EPA Pushing Pollution Data Out to Public with New Tools, Earliest TRI Release Ever

Jul 30, 2010 by Brian Turnbaugh*

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week released the preliminary 2009 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data, the earliest data release in the history of the program. The TRI program tracks toxic pollution from thousands of facilities nationwide and is considered one of the most successful environmental programs and a cornerstone of environmental right to know. The preliminary data are now available for the public to download and analyze, maintaining TRI as a vital tool for holding businesses accountable for their pollution and driving changes to prevent pollution.

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Senate Committee Approves Leaving Millions at Unnecessary Risk

Jul 29, 2010 by Brian Turnbaugh*

Yesterday the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) failed to take action to protect the public, instead choosing to let millions of Americans remain at unnecessary risk of chemical disasters. The committee members chose to gut a House-passed bill that would have reduced the consequences of a terrorist attack on chemical plants and water treatment facilities. The committee also refused to consider a similar bill from Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). Both the House bill and the Lautenberg bill would have protected workers and communities by driving the adoption of safer, cost effective technologies that eliminate the threat of an intentionally released cloud of poison gas from a chemical plant.

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New Study Finds High Levels of Controversial Plastics Chemical in Paper Receipts

Jul 28, 2010 by Rachel Sauter*

A new analysis by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) suggests that many Americans are at risk of exposure to a dangerous chemical that has been found in baby bottles, the lining of food and beverage containers, and now paper receipts. Significant levels of bisphenol-A (BPA), a controversial chemical that is not currently regulated by the Food and Drug Administration or the Environmental Protection Agency, was found in 40 percent of paper receipts collected from major retailers, grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, fast-food restaurants, post offices and ATMs.

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Alaska Court Stops All Oil and Gas Activities in Chukchi Sea

On July 21, a federal district court judge in Alaska issued an order halting all oil and gas activities in more than 29 million acres of the Chukchi Sea. The order said that the former Minerals Management Service (MMS) failed to adequately consider the environmental impacts of potential natural gas production in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

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National Mining Association Sues EPA over Limits on Mountaintop Mining

Mountaintop The National Mining Association (NMA) filed a lawsuit on July 20 against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) claiming that new enforcement guidelines issued by EPA in April unlawfully obstruct permitting of coal mining operations. NMA claims the new guidelines effectively prohibit certain types of surface mining and that EPA denied NMA the opportunity to review and comment on the guidelines before they became final.

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Gary Bass, Executive Director of OMB Watch Expected to Testify Before House Subcommittee Today

Jul 27, 2010 by Rachel Sauter*

OMB Watch Executive Director Gary Bass is expected to testify today at a hearing on federal rulemaking and the regulatory process before the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law. The hearing is scheduled for July 27 at 11:00 a.m. Cass Sunstein, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is also expected to testify, as well as Sally Katzen of Podesta Group, Richard Williams of George Mason University’s Regulatory Studies Program and Government Accountability Project, and Curtis Copeland, of the Congressional Research Service.

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