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Monday, December 11, 2006

An Agenda to Weaken Protections
Agencies released today the Fall 2006 Unified Agenda and Regulatory Plan, which sums up the work of the last six months and sets priorities for the coming year. Unfortunately, this year's regulatory plan has a few too many familiar faces. Agencies have failed to make progress on important regulations such as reducing worker's exposure to crystalline silica or upgrading energy efficiency standards. What's even more troubling about the Bush's regulatory plan for 2007 is the return of some industry favorites that aim to rollback health, safety and environmental standards.

With the Dems taking control of Congress next month, it looks like the administration might be turning its attention more towards the executive branch. The intro to the Reg Plan sets out four overarching priorities for regulation that should mollify industry interests on the verge of losing their tax breaks:

Regulations that are particularly good examples of the Administration's ``smart'' regulation agenda to streamline regulations and reporting requirements, which is a key part of the President's economic plan.

Regulations that are of particular concern to small businesses.

Regulations that respond to public nominations submitted to OMB in 2001 or 2002.

Regulations that address 2004 nominations for promising regulatory reforms in the manufacturing sector.

Those last two bullets refer to the regulatory hit lists, regulations nominated by industry for "reform" or repeal during Bush's first term. And sure enough, the regulatory plans for each agency are chock full of hit list favorites, such as weakening regulations controlling listeria in ready-to-eat meat products and reducing the reporting requirements for the Toxic Release Inventory (despite the fact that EPA has publicly said they're backing away from the idea). More déjà vu on the agency's agenda for 2007:

Rules proposed after the outbreak of mad cow disease to keep potentially hazardous materials out of the food supply.
Changes to Land Management Plan procedures that could speed up the permit process for national forests, opening the forests up to more development and limiting public participation.
Long-overdue energy conservation standards.
Implementation of the 2002 Bioterrorism Act requirement for prior notification for imported food.
Changes sought by industry to the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Standards to prevent workers from exposure to Crystalline Silica.
Upgrades to roof crush resistance for SUVs.
Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone.

The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda is currently only available on the GPO website, but check back soon to this website to view the agenda in a more searchable format.

Posted by Genevieve Smith, 11:27:52 PM

Thursday, December 07, 2006

NY Times Chronicles Bush Administration's Lax Trucking Regulations

On Sunday, The New York Times kicked off a series exposing the Bush administration's efforts at unabashedly pro-industry and often dangerous deregulation. The first in the series focuses on the trucking industry. The article states, "The federal government's oversight of the trucking industry is a case study of deregulation, as well as the difficulty of determining an exact calculus of its consequences."

Despite opposition from public interest groups and even the insurance industry, trucking interests have rewritten rules at the expense of motorists and truck drivers alike.

The 2003 and 2004 rewrite includes some puzzling provisions:

An increase in the maximum driving hours over the course of a week, from 60 to 77 (though also a cap on daily work hours of 14)
A requirement of ten hours of training for new drivers, none of it on the road
A rejection of a recommendation to require electronic monitoring devices in rigs

The rejection of electronic monitoring devices is particularly objectionable because driver log books are something of a joke in the industry. The article discusses forged logbooks and truckers forced to drive themselves to exhaustion:

Timothy L. Unrine, a 41-year-old driver from Virginia, said in a recent interview that he was taught to conceal excessive driving hours during training last January by his former employer, Boyd Brothers Transportation of Birmingham, Ala. Mr. Unrine said his orientation instructor told his class that government inspectors were allowed to examine a monthly logbook if it was bound. But if the staples were removed, the log was considered "loose leaf" and inspectors could require an examination of only those pages from the most recent seven days, Mr. Unrine said the drivers were told. Several times, when he told a dispatcher he was too tired to make another trip, he said, he was ordered to do so after just a few hours' sleep.

In addition to abused truck drivers, deregulation endangers motorists. The article centers on a lawsuit filed by the family of a woman killed in 2004 by an admittedly tired truck driver. The woman's family is suing the driver and the trucking company, but also using the suit to address the larger issue of the Bush administration's disregard for public safety when it comes to regulation. Compassionate conservatism at work.

Posted by Matthew Madia, 10:05:09 AM

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Latest Watcher
Be sure to check out the latest issue of our biweekly newsletter, The Watcher. Reg policy articles this time:

Supreme Court Wades Through Decision on Climate Change

FDA Negotiates Increase in Drug Industry User Fees