Every two weeks, in OMB Watch's e-newsletter The Watcher, we analyze a few recent issues in regulatory policy. Here are the articles from the October 23 issue:

While Feds Dither, States Move to Regulate Greenhouse Gases
Kansas has rejected an air permit for proposed power plants due to the threat of the resulting greenhouse gas emissions. The decision makes Kansas the latest state to take proactive steps to stem greenhouse gas emissions while federal agencies and Congress delay action. Read more...

Bush Administration Tries to Reverse Old-Growth Forest Protection Plan
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is trying to dismantle a 1994 landmark management plan that balances logging, endangered species and old-growth forest protections. BLM wants to revise the Northwest Forest Plan to allow logging on nearly one million acres of old-growth forest area. The proposed revisions ignore scientific recommendations, and the process appears to have been manipulated by Bush administration officials. Read more...

Report Finds Extensive Noncompliance with Clean Water Act Rules
A new report has found thousands of facilities are out of compliance with the requirements of the Clean Water Act. The report blames declining support for environmental enforcement during the Bush administration as a major cause of the regulatory violations. Read more...

Sign up to receive The Watcher by email here.

Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) has introduced an amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill (H.R. 3043) that would threaten the budgets of important federal programs. The amendment would tie a program's budget to the White House Office of Management and Budget's Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) — a flawed measure of a program's effectiveness and efficiency.

Allard's amendment would make PART ratings a trigger for budget cuts. If a program is rated "ineffective" by OMB assessors, the budget of that program would be automatically cut by 10 percent.

Imagine the possibilities. If the White House opposed a certain program — even if that program was an exemplar of government virtue and efficiency — OMB could deem the program "ineffective," leading to across the board budget cuts.

This is far from a conspiracy theory. OMB often doles out "ineffective" ratings on flimsy pretenses. Consider EPA's Air Quality Grants and Permitting Program which "support[s] the prevention and control of air pollution at the state and local level" by issuing pollution management permits and research and development grants.

OMB has deemed the program ineffective because it does not currently have efficiency measures in place and because "It is not clear that the current grant allocation methods for program implementation funding or for air pollution monitoring efforts are adequate." (Who among us does not fear the horrors of unclear grant allocation methods...)

Allard's amendment is bad policy that will likely yield bad results. The Senate may consider the amendment as it debates the appropriations bill today and tomorrow. Allard's amendment may come up for debate as soon as this afternoon. You can tell your senator to oppose Allard's amendment by calling or emailing. (Senate switchboard: 202-224-3121)