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Holly Doremus | June 10, 2009

11th Circuit Stirs the NPDES Pot

Cross-posted by permission from Legal Planet. In a decision that shows the power of Chevron deference, Friends of the Everglades v. South Florida Water Management District, the 11th Circuit has upheld EPA’s water transfers rule, which provides that the act of moving water from one waterway to another does not require a National Pollutant Discharge […]

Daniel Farber | June 9, 2009

The Misleading Economic Criticism of Waxman-Markey

The first line of defense against climate regulation was that climate change didn’t exist. The next line of defense was that maybe it was real, but it wasn’t caused by humans. Now we’re up to the third line of defense: it does exist and it is caused by humans, but it’s too expensive to fix. […]

James Goodwin | June 8, 2009

The Trials and Tribulations of Obama’s Open Government Initiative

When President Obama launched his open government initiative on his first full day on the job, few assumed that the ambitious endeavor it contemplated would be easy.  After all, lack of transparency and even active efforts to conceal information had become almost an inextricable feature of the federal government’s internal operations and decision-making—especially during the […]

James Goodwin | June 4, 2009

FDA’s Transparency Initiative: New Life in a Glass House?

In 2007, the FDA came under criticism for failing to inform the public about studies it had had for two years which indicated that users of the diabetes drug Avandia faced up to a 42% greater chance of suffering a heart attack.  More recently, it was revealed that Bush-era political appointees at the agency surreptitiously worked […]

Ben Somberg | June 4, 2009

FDA to Release New Decision on BPA Within ‘Weeks’

On Tuesday, Representatives Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg asking the agency to re-examine its assessment that bisphenol A (BPA) does not pose health risks to consumers. The FDA responded that it was already planning on doing so, and that a new decision would be released within “weeks, […]

Holly Doremus | May 28, 2009

Sharing the Catch

Cross-posted by permission from Legal Planet. According to Science Insider (subscription required), NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco has endorsed broader use of a “catch shares” approach to allocating the available catch in commercial fisheries. The shares strategy (also referred to as “individual transferable quotas” or “limited access privileges”) gives individual participants in the fishery a permanent […]

Catherine O'Neill | May 26, 2009

Fish Tales from West Virginia

Here’s some slippery regulatory logic: West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection says it is justified in setting less stringent levels for mercury in the state’s waters than recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Why? Because, according to the WVDEP, a recent study shows that people in West Virginia eat less fish than the “average […]

Matt Shudtz | May 22, 2009

FDA Political Interference with BPA Science

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel continued its impressive BPA reporting Sunday with disturbing revelations about former FDA political appointees’ utter disregard for the agency’s career scientists. Using the Freedom of Information Act, the Journal-Sentinel uncovered e-mails showing that high-level officials went to industry lobbyists for advice about new research on bisphenol A (BPA) before asking FDA career […]

Holly Doremus | May 20, 2009

Mountaintop mining update

This item is cross-posted by permission from Legal Planet. In March, I wrote here about EPA’s newfound boldness on mountaintop removal mining. Under current regulations, the Corps of Engineers issues permits for that practice under Clean Water Act section 404, but EPA has the authority to veto those permits. EPA, which was entirely passive on […]