The Charleston Gazette (WV) reports on a Congressional hearing that spotlighted state efforts to improve mine safety and proved the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is stuck in the dark.

As OMB Watch has reported, there has been little progress in federal mine safety regulation since the tragedies of Sago and Darby in 2006. This hearing shows how states are forced to pick up the slack. West Virginia legislated tougher mine construction standards and Kentucky has beefed up mine inspections. Widows of killed mine workers urged the House Education and Labor Committee to ensure greater mine safety at the federal level.

Congress attempted to do just that in the wake of Sago and Darby. The MINER Act, signed into law in June 2006, should have already improved working conditions for our nation's miners. Unfortunately, MSHA has been negligent in enforcing the law. During the testimony, United Mine Workers of America president Cecil Roberts said, "I am sorry to report that MSHA's effort over the past year would do little to change matters today if a mine were to experience an explosion."



Posted by Matt Madia, 05:32:13 PM



Interior Department Gets in on the Scientific Manipulation Fun

The New York Times reports this morning that an Interior Department manager has been ignoring science to pursue a political agenda. Julie A. MacDonald, the deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, became the subject of an agency Inspector General investigation after repeated complaints by employees:

Ms. MacDonald, an engineer by training, has provoked complaints from some wildlife biologists and lawyers in the agency for aggressive advocacy for industries' views of the science that underlies agency decisions. The words of more than a dozen high-ranking career employees … describe a manager determined to see that agency findings and the underlying science conform with policy goals.

The article points out MacDonald's reckless actions make many agency decisions overly vulnerable to legal challenges. "Making decisions that are vulnerable increases the risk that time-consuming, labor-intensive scientific and regulatory work must be redone."



Posted by Matt Madia, 09:54:15 AM

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Reg•Watch is retroactively declaring March 22, 2007 Scrutinize the FDA Day (see below). Here's one more bit of news before this soon-to-be widely celebrated holiday comes to a close.

This morning, the House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held its second hearing on the FDA drug approval process. Panel Democrats grilled FDA commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach on how the agency has become powerless in regulating drugs, especially after they reach the market. Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) repeatedly criticized the culture at FDA as a contributing factor. OMB Watch has reported on the increasing need for reform in the agency's drug approval process.

The hearing also featured testimony from Marcia Crosse — not the desperate housewife, but the Government Accountability Office director for health care. Crosse's testimony pointed out FDA has begun initiatives to correct some of the problems detailed in a 2006 GAO report, but it is too soon to tell how effective those reforms will be.

Also of note, at least one lawmaker, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) mentioned FDA's new guidance on advisory members which Reg•Watch mentioned earlier today.



Posted by Matt Madia, 05:19:03 PM

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

In the News, OSHA under the Microscope

According to BNA news service (subscription), House members grilled an Occupational Safety and Health Administration official as to why OSHA has only addressed the danger of a pandemic flu outbreak with guidance memos, instead of regulation. Unions and Congressional members have asked for a temporary standard to protect health care workers. Since no flu strain presents danger in America, the official claims, the agency cannot expedite regulation.

I'm no epidemiologist, but I'm fairly certain pandemics do not announce their arrival nor move in an orderly and predictable fashion. As usual, the tangled mess that is the federal regulatory system has blocked a crucial rule.

The big story of the day is a U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board report which faults OSHA for the BP oil refinery explosion in Texas City in 2005. The report finds, despite repeated fatal accidents over the years, OSHA failed to conduct adequate safety inspections at the plant. The 2005 blast killed 15.

Read more from The Pump Handle here.



Posted by Matt Madia, 02:50:23 PM

Thursday, March 15, 2007

OMB Watch Releases Report on Bush Changes to Regulatory Process

Today, OMB Watch released a full report titled A Failure to Govern: Bush's Attack on the Regulatory Process (download it here). This report outlines President Bush's recent amendments to Executive Order 12866 — Regulatory Planning and Review. The report details the potential impacts the amendments will have on federal agencies and the American public, as well as what the changes mean to democracy at large.

A Failure to Govern: Bush's Attack on the Regulatory Process

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Johnson Continues to be Submissive on EPA Budget, but Congress Investigates

As Reg•Watch has blogged before (here and here), President Bush is attempting to further undermine EPA's ability to promulgate regulations to protect the environment by slashing the agency's budget. Administrator Stephen Johnson has inexplicably defended the cuts, towing the administration line instead of sticking up for his own agency.

In a Senate hearing yesterday, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) expressed this same concern: "To have the EPA administrator talk about how he's not really fought the cuts is very disturbing to me." (Reported in E&E Daily)

Today, the House committee on Energy and Commerce is grilling Johnson on the cuts. You can watch the hearing here. Kudos to Congress for putting up a fight where EPA hasn't.



Posted by Matt Madia, 10:58:31 AM

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Latest Developments on Bush Changes to the Regulatory Process

OMB Watch has created a new web center to be the one-stop source for news and developments on President Bush's recent amendments to Executive Order 12866. The web center will be frequently updated with fresh insights, news from Capitol Hill, and links to media coverage.