On Feb. 27, several federal agencies released environmental justice strategies that outlined steps they will take to address and reduce the disproportionate health and environmental harms that affect low-income, minority, and indigenous communities. This release is part of the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to integrate environmental justice into all areas of federal policymaking, including transportation, labor, health services, and housing.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) rule, a policy mandating that public water systems provide annual reports to consumers on the quality of local drinking water. The resulting reports have been criticized for being overly technical, complex, and difficult for the general public to understand or act upon.
This year, Feb. 14 signified more than a Valentine’s Day celebration for worker safety advocates. Last Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of the regulatory review of a proposed rule issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that would strengthen standards for protecting workers from crystalline silica, a known human carcinogen that is linked to fatalities and disabling illnesses such as silicosis.
While trade negotiations have long involved some level of secrecy, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed regional free trade agreement between the United States and Asia-Pacific partner countries, involves unprecedented levels of work being done behind closed doors. This agreement could curtail crucial activities of state and local governments and would cover profoundly important public policy issues – access to essential medicines, food security, and natural resource management – that deserve extensive public review and discussion. However, intense efforts are being made to block the public from knowing even the most basic content of the agreement.