GAO Report Highlights High-Risk Areas

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its latest report to Congress Jan. 22 highlighting the wide range of high-risk areas in government that it urges the new Congress and administration to address. The report updates the areas already on GAO's list and adds three new high-risk areas: the outdated financial regulatory system, medical product oversight and regulation, and toxic chemical assessment.

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Transition at OIRA: What Kind of Change?

Change is coming to the leadership position at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Two news reports during the week of Jan. 5 highlighted the outgoing and (potentially) incoming administrators of the office that reviews federal agencies' proposals for providing public health, safety, consumer, and environmental protections.

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An Assault on Public Protections: Regulatory Policy News in 2008

The federal government's ability — and sometimes inability — to protect the public drew national attention throughout 2008. President Bush's and senior administration officials' aversion to regulation and their penchant for allowing the market to operate unchecked appeared more and more outmoded in the face of the collapse of the financial market, the rising tide of dangerous imported products, and persistent examples of environmental degradation.

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Panel Sends Regulatory Recommendations to Obama, Congress

On Nov. 14, a panel of regulatory experts released a report calling for significant changes to the federal regulatory process. The recommendations are directed to President-elect Obama and the new Congress and are designed to achieve a more effective, efficient, and timely process that is now burdened with excessive requirements and assessments.

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FDA to Open Regulatory Offices in Foreign Countries

On Oct. 16, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will send personnel overseas to staff offices to help ensure the safety of imported food and drugs. The plan calls for staff to be assigned to offices in China, India, Europe, and Latin America. Many assignments will begin before the end of 2008.

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Bill Improving Inspectors General Independence Passes Congress

Congress recently passed legislation that reforms the functions of federal agencies' inspectors general to increase their independence and insulate them from political interference. The passage comes after more than a year of negotiations in Congress and between the legislative and executive branches. President Bush is expected sign the bill.

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EPA Failing on Children's Environmental Health Issues

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) told a Senate oversight committee Sept. 16 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ignored recommendations from an advisory committee established to assist the agency in creating policies to protect children's health. For example, in developing three recent air quality standards on particulate matter, ozone, and lead, EPA either rejected the committee's recommendations or treated them as one of many public comments, according to GAO.

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FDA Fighting Mounting Evidence on BPA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to claim there is insufficient evidence about the health effects of a chemical widely used in consumer products to justify regulating the substance. Evidence is mounting from a variety of other sources, however, that bisphenol-A (BPA) may affect human development and mental health. FDA continues to advise consumers that there is no reason to "discontinue using products that contain BPA."

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One Year Later, Only Blame about Crandall Canyon Disaster

One year after the deaths at the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah, little has been accomplished at the federal level to help prevent further mine collapse disasters. Although the House passed legislation addressing safety issues raised by this collapse and a series of other mine accidents in recent years, the Senate has not acted. Reports about the causes of the Utah mine collapse vary in assigning responsibility, which has led to different allegations about who bears the burden for the nine deaths at Crandall Canyon.

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Consumer Product Safety Reform Clears Congress

Congress has approved a bill that will revamp the nation's consumer product safety net. The legislation reforms the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to enable the agency to better enforce safety standards in a market dominated by cheap imports and requires new standards for dangerous substances like lead and phthalates.

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Congress Votes to Reauthorize Administrative Conference of the United States

The House voted July 14 to reauthorize the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) by accepting an earlier Senate-passed bill. The bill now moves to the White House, where President Bush is expected to sign the legislation. ACUS was a small government agency, abolished in 1995, that advised Congress on reforms to administrative and regulatory processes and saved the government millions of dollars over its life.

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Tomato, Beef Recalls Show Problems with Food Tracking

Federal officials are having difficulty providing consumers with information on two recent food-borne illness outbreaks. Investigators are still searching for the source of an ongoing salmonella outbreak, and officials have been unable to provide detailed information for consumers on a batch of E. coli-contaminated beef, which has spread to a number of states across the country.

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White House Involved in EPA's California Waiver Decision

A report released May 19 by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform concluded the White House improperly intervened in a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny California's request for a waiver under the Clean Air Act. The waiver would have allowed the state to set standards for greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles. In denying the waiver, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson went against the recommendation of EPA staff, who concluded there was no legal or scientific basis to deny the waiver.

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Criminal Investigation of Utah Mine Officials Urged

On May 8, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, released the results of a nine-month committee investigation into the collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah. In the memorandum summarizing the investigation, Miller reveals that he sent a letter of criminal referral to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recommending the agency investigate the mine's general manager.

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Farm Bill Proposes Food Safety Improvements

The huge farm bill reauthorization under discussion among House and Senate conferees contains two food safety-related items that could help regulatory agencies better protect the U.S. food supply and provide consumers with more information when making purchasing decisions. First, the bill contains country-of-origin labeling, primarily for marketing livestock by-products. Second, it proposes a bipartisan food safety commission to review the existing food system and make recommendations for improvements.

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Reports Highlight MSHA's Failures at Crandall Canyon Mine

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.

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Bipartisan Consensus Forming on CPSC Reform

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.

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High Court Expands Federal Preemption in Medical Cases

The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up a series of cases that addresses the issue of whether federal agency approval of medical devices and drugs shields manufacturers of those products from liability under state laws. In a case decided Feb. 20, the Court held that federal law preempts state liability claims if certain medical devices received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. The Court also considered if that same protection should be extended to drug manufacturers.

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Environmental, Worker Safety Rules Targeted by Industry Groups

The Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy has finalized a list of ten rules it will encourage federal agencies to modify. The Office of Advocacy compiled the list after receiving recommendations from small businesses and industry lobbyists.

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2008 Executive Branch Regulatory Agenda: Building an Administrative Legacy

In 2007, President Bush used administrative decrees — such as issuing a new regulatory executive order and giving new powers to executive branch offices — to impact the regulatory process. The administration is likely to continue pursuing administratively what it cannot accomplish legislatively or does not wish to do in the light of day.

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