The Bush administration is considering a plan to allow low-level radioactive material to be stored in ordinary landfills and hazardous waste sites. Currently, such waste must be stored at facilities specifically licensed for radioactive material. Under the plan, EPA would permit radioactive waste to be disposed of in landfills designed and permitted only for chemical waste, industrial waste and municipal garbage.

Congress recently approved legislation that allows logging in old-growth forests and does little to limit wildfire risks in areas close to homes. The Healthy Forests Restoration Act passed the House by a vote of 286 to 140, with the Senate following suit by voice vote. The measure, which takes its cue from President Bush’s “Healthy Forests Initiative,” allows increased commercial logging of old-growth trees in national forests, purportedly to reduce runaway forest fires that have plagued the West in recent years, even though such trees are not the source of the problem.

The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE) filed a request for correction Sept. 8 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the agencies' data quality guidelines. The petition challenges the World Health Organization (WHO) Technical Report 916 called Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. USDA and HHS plan to base part of their 2005 Dietary Guidelines on the report.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently initiated Phase II of a stakeholder dialogue to develop options for reducing the burden associated with reporting under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). EPA is seeking reactions and comments on several burden reduction options outlined in an online white paper.