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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (56278)	9/17/2004 11:43:23 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Study Finds Bush Administration Obstructs and Weakens Regulation Across Agencies FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEPTEMBER 15, 2004 5:45 PM CONTACT: OMB Watch Robert Shull 202/234-8494x276 Herb Ettel 202/234-8494x213 Study Finds Bush Administration Obstructs and Weakens Regulation Across Agencies, Withdraws Over 200 Proposed Rules and Fails to Complete Over 70% of Target Actions WASHINGTON - September 15 - An analysis of four key federal agencies charged with safeguarding the public's air, water, food, health, transportation and workplaces reveals consistent and widespread obstruction, neglect and weakening of protections. The report attributes the pattern to a pro-corporate bias of the Bush administration and appointed agency heads favoring narrow special interests over the public good. In "The Bush Regulatory Record: A Pattern of Failure," OMB Watch analysts document the Bush administration's inaction and obstruction since taking office: * EPA has withdrawn 90 agenda items, most addressing clean air and water, and in the first half of 2004 failed to achieve 73 percent of benchmark items it scheduled for completion. * FDA has withdrawn 62 agenda items, including one to track contaminated blood, and in the first half of 2004 failed to achieve 70 percent of benchmark items it scheduled for completion. * NHTSA has withdrawn 31 auto safety agenda items and, in the first half of 2004, failed to achieve 71 percent of the benchmark items scheduled for completion. * OSHA has withdrawn 24 agenda items, including one to protect workers from exposure to tuberculosis, and in the first half of 2004 it failed to advance 75 percent of benchmark items scheduled for action. It also eliminated data collection on musculoskeletal disorders. Combined, these four agencies have either withdrawn or failed to complete work on a majority of the regulatory priorities already on the agenda when the Bush administration took office â€“ ranging from 56 percent at the EPA to 86 percent at OSHA. Moreover, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved only 25 economically significant rules total for the four agencies -- roughly half the number approved during each term of the Clinton administration and a third of those approved during the Bush I administration. "When our government abdicates its responsibility to provide us the protections we need, people suffer," said Robert Shull, the report's lead author and Senior Regulatory Policy Analyst with OMB Watch. "It weakens our nation and has long-term implications for generations to come." "Since 2001, key regulatory plans have been abandoned, and those few major rules that have been undertaken favor corporate over public interests," said Gary Bass, OMB Watch Executive Director. "Statistics show a pattern of neglect, but not how the few rules being done decidedly favor industry." This report updates and expands our May 2004 report, "Special Interest Takeover: The Bush Administration and the Dismantling of Public Safeguards," which OMB Watch and Center for American Progress produced for Citizens for Sensible Safeguards (CSS). Download both reports and background at www.ombwatch.org/regs. OMB Watch is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Washington, DC, and was founded in 1983 to promote government accountability and citizen participation, and to lift the veil of secrecy shrouding the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the federal agencies it oversees. THE BUSH REGULATORY RECORD: A PATTERN OF FAILURE TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Executive Summary 7 Introduction: Continuing in the Wrong Direction 7 About this Analysis 9 Findings 10 Continuing to Shirk Responsibility 14 Inaction: Continuing to Let Pressing Needs Go Unaddressed 16 Continuing to Place Special Interests Over the Public Interest 24 EPA: Withering on the Vine 24 Floating With the Current: Items Completed 25 Coal-Fired Power Plants: Permission to Pollute 26 Emission Standards for Automakers 27 Clear Skies: Ozone 28 Lost in the Smog: Items Withdrawn 30 Stuck in the Mud: Continued Inaction 32 FDA: In Critical Condition 32 Band-Aids: Items Completed 34 Malpractice: Items Withdrawn 34 Protecting the Blood Supply: Patient Notification 35 Preventing Mad Cow Disease 36 Bad Medicine: Continued Inaction 39 NHTSA: Driving in the Slow Lane 39 Lurching Forward: Items Completed 41 Tire Safety 42 Fuel Integrity 43 Early Warning Systems 43 Duel Fuel 44 Spinning Its Wheels: Items Withdrawn 45 Considering in a Different Context 45 Waiting for More Research 46 Stuck in Neutral: Continued Inaction 47 Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems 48 Fuel Economy: Structural Reform 51 OSHA: Sleeping on the Job 51 Just Showing Up: Items Completed 53 Shirking Responsibility: Items Withdrawn 53 Tuberculosis 54 Glycol Ethers ### commondreams.org