The American Public Health Association (APHA) is throwing its support behind the EPA’s bid for a tough new air quality standard that the organization says will protect the health of all Americans by curbing harmful emissions of fine particulate matter, also known as soot. On the other side of the issue, manufacturers are predicting that it will “crush” growth.
The EPA has released for public comment draft risk assessments, for particular uses, on five chemicals found in common household products. The draft risk assessments were developed as part of the agency’s Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Work Plan, which identified common chemicals for review over the coming years to assess any impacts on people’s health and the environment.
The company whose rig crew ignored “clear warning signs” at the Macondo well site has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) and to pay a total of $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines and penalties.
During the holiday break, on December 27, EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced her departure from the Obama administration cabinet after the President’s State of the Union address in late January. Jackson issued this statement:
Congressional opponents of public protections spent much of 2012 attempting to increase the procedural hurdles to establishing new rules that would implement federal laws and standards according to the regulatory watchdog group OMB Watch. Efforts to attack the scientific evidence employed by agencies continued.
Chinese workplace safety and health officials last month hosted the first U.S.-China Workplace Safety and Health Dialogue in Beijing. The historic conference brought together officials from China’s State Administration of Work Safety to exchange ideas and information about protecting workers on both sides of the Pacific. Dr. Michaels presented an overview of workplace safety and health standards and compliance assistance in the United States.
A government watchdog group says that anti-regulation lawmakers used procedural hurdles and attacks on science to block new federal laws standards in 2012 - and that they're likely to continue that strategy in the coming year. "Both efforts are likely to re-emerge next year,” predicts OMB Watch, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that monitors actions by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Contractors who do work for the federal government will be under increased scrutiny – and whistleblower protection – thanks to a set of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 3254) recently approved by the Senate.
Washington and financial powers that be are abuzz with daily updates as to whether the U.S. government will actually plunge at year’s end from the so-called “financial cliff” brought on by piling federal debt. There is even talk of Congress returning to DC between Christmas and New Year’s to try to work out a deal.
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