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Unmet Needs: News Analysis

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Fuel Economy Proposal: Higher Mileage, State Preemption 04/29/2008
The U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Mary E. Peters, announced April 22 a proposed new rule to raise fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks. In December 2007, Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act, which required revisions to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The new rule, if implemented, would be the first significant improvement in fuel efficiency standards since the CAFE program's inception in 1975. Read More

Reports Highlight MSHA's Failures at Crandall Canyon Mine 04/15/2008
Two recent reports highlight the failures of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in approving the retreat mining plans at Crandall Canyon mine in Utah that resulted in nine deaths after a mine collapse in August 2007. A third report criticizes MSHA's approval and implementation of emergency response plans required by legislation passed by Congress in the wake of mining disasters across the country in 2006. Read More

Bipartisan Consensus Forming on CPSC Reform 03/18/2008
Although differences between the House and Senate still exist, Congress is moving toward a bipartisan agreement on major reforms to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Bills from each chamber need to be reconciled, but if Congress can agree on a single proposal, it will set up a showdown with the Bush administration over new provisions intended to expand consumer protections by revitalizing the CPSC. Read More

Federal Meat Inspectors Spread Thin as Recalls Rise 03/04/2008
The federal regulator of meat, poultry, and egg products, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), faces resource limitations that make it more difficult for the agency to ensure the safety of the food supply. Although the agency's budget has risen since it was created, staffing levels have dropped steadily. Widespread vacancies in the agency have spread FSIS's inspection force too thin. Meanwhile, the number of meat, poultry, and egg product recalls has risen, and a recent recall of 143 million pounds of beef is the largest in the nation's history. Read More

Coal Mine Safety Shortchanged by Years of Budget Cuts 02/20/2008
Congress created the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in 1977, placing a new federal focus on miner safety and health. However, the agency's budget and staffing levels have been cut over the past three decades. The budget for MSHA's coal mine safety and health program has been particularly abused. In the past two years, a spike in coal mine fatalities and high-profile coal mine disasters have prompted many Americans and Congress to look to MSHA to improve miner safety, but years of budget cuts and the loss of qualified employees have left the agency struggling to fulfill its mission. Read More

Product Safety Regulator Hobbled by Decades of Negligence 02/05/2008
The nation's premiere consumer product regulator, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), has been crippled by budget cuts and staffing losses that now span decades. Every president since Gerald Ford has proposed cutting the agency's budget at least once, and Congresses controlled by both parties have obliged. Recent attention surrounding massive product recalls prompted Congress at the end of 2007 to give the agency one of its biggest funding boosts, and lawmakers are considering additional legislation to ensure consistent long-term funding. President Bush's FY 2009 budget request, announced Feb. 4, proposes level funding for the agency. Read More

2008 Regulatory Policy Agenda: Congress Debates, States Act 01/23/2008
In the current political climate, it is unlikely that Congress will succeed in passing legislation that protects the public from the range of regulatory failures we experienced in 2007. The barriers to substantially improving public health, worker safety, and environmental quality seem too high in this election year, especially given President Bush's willingness to use his veto power. What Congress can accomplish in 2008 is establishing legislative and oversight priorities over numerous health, safety, and environmental issues. In many instances, however, we will see states move ahead with a variety of actions designed to improve public protections. The executive branch will also play an increasingly important role as the Bush administration comes to a close. Read More

Congress Limps Toward Product Safety Reform 01/08/2008
Despite a record number of consumer product recalls in 2007, Congress adjourned in December without agreeing on legislation to restore the federal government's safety system. The House passed new legislation that would vastly improve the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) ability to regulate unsafe products. Weaker Senate legislation was blocked by a lack of bipartisan agreement. Read More

A Year for Failure: Regulatory Policy News in 2007 12/18/2007
In 2007, new regulatory policies and the inability of federal agencies to protect the public made headlines more so than at any time in recent memory. Four themes dominated regulatory policy this year: an increase in White House influence over agency rulemaking activity and discretion, which added a perception of more political manipulation; the inability of the federal government to protect the public by ensuring the safety of imported goods; the voice of some industry groups calling for regulation; and the Bush administration's refusal to regulate in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence, as in the case of climate change. At best, government has attempted to respond to crises instead of getting ahead of the curve. This has left the public uncertain about whether we can count on our government to provide adequate safeguards. Read More

Multinationals Push for New Greenhouse Gas Emissions Regulations 12/04/2007
Two calls-to-action on cutting greenhouse gas emissions were released Nov. 30, shortly before world leaders met in Bali to begin outlining a global agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. First, business leaders from 150 global firms issued a communiqué calling for "a comprehensive, legally binding United Nations framework to tackle climate change." Second, a report sponsored by a coalition of U.S businesses and nongovernmental organizations said the U.S. could reduce its output of greenhouse gas emissions substantially using existing technologies and low-cost emerging alternatives, but to do so "will require strong, coordinated, economy-wide action that begins in the near future." Read More

Congress Told of FDA's Lax Inspection of Foreign Drug Makers -- Again 11/06/2007
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently told Congress that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspects an estimated seven percent of foreign drug manufacturing facilities. GAO can only provide an estimate because FDA doesn't know how many foreign facilities are subject to inspection due to inaccurate and uncoordinated databases that have vastly different estimates of the number of drug makers subject to the foreign drug inspection program. At this inspection rate, it would take FDA more than 13 years to inspect all existing facilities one time, assuming no additional facilities were added to the list. Read More

Congress Hears Pleas for Expanded Authority and Resources at CPSC 09/25/2007
A proliferation of children's product recalls due to potentially dangerous exposure to lead has left many turning to the federal government for answers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has borne much of the brunt for the regulatory failures. Congress is considering solutions including new federal standards for lead, expanding the agency's regulatory authority and increasing agency resources. Read More

Federal Agencies Knew of Diacetyl Dangers and Kept Silent 09/11/2007
Federal regulatory agencies have known for years the dangers that diacetyl exposure creates among workers in factories where bags of microwave popcorn are tested. The only agency to have taken any action, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has kept its study of the chemical's impact on consumers secret except for sharing it with the popcorn industry. Now the first case of potential consumer illness from exposure to diacetyl has been documented. Read More

Crandall Canyon Mine Collapse Implicates MSHA Procedures 08/21/2007
The Aug. 6 mine collapse at the Crandall Canyon coal mine in Utah, which trapped six coal miners and led to the deaths of three rescue workers, again calls into question the effectiveness of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). The mine operators were working under a plan approved by MSHA in June, just months after serious structural problems forced the operators to abandon a work area only 900 feet from where the miners are trapped. Read More

Toy Recalls Bring Attention to Commission's Inadequacies 08/07/2007
The Aug. 2 recall by Mattel, Inc. of 1.5 million toys that may contain excessive levels of lead paint once again calls into question the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) voluntary approach to regulating industry. Mattel's recall follows the June recall of 1.5 million toys by the RC2 Corp. for the same lead-based paint danger. Read More

Size Matters: Nanotechnologies Present New Challenges 08/07/2007
Three documents released since July 26, and a recent public hearing, highlighted the difficulties of promoting promising new nanotechnologies, protecting public health and safety, and safely disposing of waste products from their use and manufacturing. Nanotechnology involves manipulating matter the size of one-billionth of a meter or 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. In 2005, more than $30 billion in nanotechnology products were sold globally, according to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Read More

Amidst Increased Scrutiny, FDA Wants to Shut Testing Labs 07/24/2007
Amidst increased scrutiny by the public and Congress of the problems with food imports and instances of bacterial outbreaks in the domestic food supply, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to close 7 of 13 laboratories that test for food safety. Read More

U.S. Ability to Regulate Chinese Imports in Question 07/10/2007
The United States government is struggling to ensure the safety of consumer products and food imported from China, as evidenced by a recent spate of controversies involving dangerous Chinese-made products. While America's consumer product safety net is relatively strong, China's young market economy is largely unchecked by government regulators. Subsequently, dangerous Chinese products are finding their way to American shores where federal agency officials are unable to monitor the volume of imports. Read More

Coal Miners Experience Unusual Occurrences of Black Lung Disease 07/10/2007
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released July 6 the results of studies prompted by reports that underground coal miners are still experiencing unusual occurrences of black lung disease despite federal regulations to prevent exposure to coal dust. The "clusters of rapidly progressing and potentially disabling pneumoconiosis," or black lung disease, were found in 2005 and 2006 in some eastern Kentucky and southern Virginia miners, according to CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

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A Roadmap for Weakened Protections? 12/18/2006
On Dec. 11, 2006, the Bush administration released the Fall 2006 Unified Agenda, a semi-annual report on agency accomplishments of the past six months as well as a look at the next six. The administration also released the 2007 regulatory plan, an annual statement of the regulatory priorities of each agency. Read More

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