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Wednesday, November 29, 2006

USDA Backs Away from Animal ID System
Prompted by pressure from industry, USDA has backed away from requiring ranchers to ID livestock in a federal database. The database was proposed last year in order to allow the agency to quickly track and stop the spread of disease between animals as well as disease spread from animals to humans. Currently, 23 percent of farms are voluntarily registered in the program. In April, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced a timetable and implementation plan for the ID system, calling for all farms to be registered by 2009. Johanns now says the program will be mandatory sometime in the future, according to CBS.

The database was proposed in response to the discovery of several cases of mad cow disease beginning in late 2003. One only has to look as far as USDA's website to see why an animal identification program is needed to protect the food supply. The ability to track a herd could be essential to containing a more serious outbreak of mad cow disease or another threat to our food supply.

Like the recent spinach E. Coli outbreak, mad cow disease shined a spotlight on the failures of our food inspection system. Unfortunately, USDA has failed to live up to many of the promises it made after the first BSE-infected cow was discovered.

Posted by Genevieve Smith, 09:26:10 PM

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Dudley Evades Democrats' Probes in Hearing

Monday's hearing on the nomination of Susan Dudley to be the new director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in OMB did little to reveal Dudley's positions on a variety of issues. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the current chair of the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, was the only Republican member of the committee to attend the hearing. The incoming chair, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT), did not attend the hearing but submitted an extensive list of questions to Dudley prior to the hearing.

The Democrats on the committee asked Dudley questions concerning her views on regulation of arsenic, ozone, the Toxics Release Inventory, and her writings on the economic benefits of regulations generally. Dudley has written extensively on the benefits of market forces to regulate public interest protections rather than having governments issue protective standards. The Democrats asked probing questions about her writings, the substance of different regulations, and her ideas about managing OIRA if confirmed.

Even when pushed on issues by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), Mark Pryor (D-AR), and Tom Carper (D-DE), Dudley evaded the questions with answers suggesting that the Senators were reading her writings too broadly or saying she would be willing to talk about these issues once confirmed. She retreated from only one position when Collins asked Dudley if she really believed that states, such as Maine, which is downwind of Midwestern power stations' pollution, should be in the position of compensating polluters. Dudley admitted that she "was wrong" and suggested those writings were an example of someone engaged in scholarly writings instead of a practical regulatory role.

After the hearing Collins told the press she was leaning toward supporting the nominee and expected to bring it to a committee vote during the December lame duck session.

No other members on the committee have taken positions. However, given the probing questions by the Democrats and evasive responses from Dudley it would appear that the concern over her nomination will not likely dissipate.

A CQ Today article may have summed it up best when the reporter noted that Sen. John Warner (R-VA) introduced Dudley and then immediately left saying, "I wish you luck, and you’re on your own."

Posted by Rick Melberth, 01:52:49 PM

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

More Oversight in the Next Congress?
The new Cindy Skrzycki column bodes well for federal oversight in the next Congress:

Some of the new masters of oversight are eager to get to work. [Pending Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Rep. James] Oberstar's agenda includes tightening port security and improving the operations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, much maligned for its Hurricane Katrina performance.
Rep. John D. Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, is set to return as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over consumer protection, telecommunications, air quality, energy, and food and drug safety.
Dingell has a reputation for relentless investigation, and his "Dingellgrams" -- requests for exhaustive paperwork from federal agencies and witnesses -- are remembered and feared in Washington.

Other Congressmen with oversight agendas include Rep. George Miller, who will oversee occupational health and safety on the Education and Workforce Committee, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, who will do the same on the Senate side.

Posted by Genevieve Smith, 10:46:48 PM

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Harnessing Technology for the Public Good
Scientists at Rice University announced last week that they had discovered a cheap and effective way to remove arsenic from drinking water. While the technology is still years away from application in water systems, it provides an exciting example of how technology can be harnessed to provide solutions to public health and safety problems. Smaller, rural communities have had trouble meeting clean drinking water standards in the past, and breakthroughs such as this could provide more people with access to safe drinking water.

Posted by Genevieve Smith, 03:40:30 PM

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Industry Opposes EPA's Smog Reduction Proposal

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported this past weekend that industry is stridently opposing an EPA recommendation to reduce ozone, often referred to as smog. EPA released the recommendation in a staff paper last July. For a summary, click here.

The staff paper recommends tightening ozone emissions by lowering the allowable limit to 0.07 parts per million (ppm). The current limit is 0.08 ppm, set in 1997.

After EPA submitted the staff paper for public comment, the usual players began blowing the anti-regulatory trumpet. The list of industry organizations opposing the recommendation in comments to EPA reads like a who’s who of environmental thugs: ExxonMobil; the American Petroleum Institute; and the Edison Electric Institute, among others. All the groups similarly attack EPA’s science, but the smear campaign does little to mask their pro-industry agenda.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) provides one of the few voices of reason in the commentary. Dr. Eileen M. Ouellette, president of the AAP, calls for even tighter restrictions bluntly stating, "The range under consideration for the ozone standard does not protect the health of infants and children."

Environmental and public interest groups, including Clean Air Watch and the American Lung Association, are amplifying the call for tighter regulation. The groups site a recommendation by the EPA's own Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee which called in October for a standard of 0.06-0.07 ppm.

With support from environmental groups, public health groups, and two of its own reports, it is clear EPA should lower the allowable limit for smog. The tighter regulation will protect public health as well as send a message that industry cannot bully the agency.

Posted by Matt Madia, 06:13:48 PM

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