[at-l] OT-POL: Bush overhauls U.S. Regulations.

[stephensadams at hotmail.com (Steve Adams)]

An article published in the New York Times* is synopsed.  Some of the 
regulations pertaining to the environment may interest hikers.  If you ask, 
OFF LIST, I will email the article to you in its entirety.

1)    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a 
new rule on the public release of auto-safety information, July 28, 2003.  
Allies of tire manufacturers and automakers contended the release of early 
warning data is likely to cause ?substantial competitive harm.?  Consumer 
groups argued the data should be released because it is important to the 
identification of potential defects.

The NHTSA published a regulation, April 21, 2004, that forbids the public 
release of warranty-claim information, industry reports on safety issues and 
consumer complaints, saying that publicizing the information would cause 
"substantial competitive harm" to manufacturers.

A consumer advocacy group, filed suit, saying consumers needed the data to 
inform themselves about unsafe vehicles and tires.  Ray Tyson, chief 
spokesman for NHTSA, said: ?I can't believe this information would be of 
much interest to the general public."

2)    The administration, at the request of lumber and paper companies, gave 
Forest Service managers the right to approve logging in federal forests 
without the usual environmental reviews.

3)    In March, 2003, the Mine Safety and Health Administration published a 
proposed new regulation that would dilute rules intended to protect coal 
miners from black-lung disease.

4)    In May 2003, the Bush administration dropped a proposed rule that 
would require hospitals to install facilities to protect workers against 
tuberculosis.  Workers unions and public health officials argued that the 
number of tuberculosis cases had risen in 20 states and that the same 
precautions for tuberculosis would also have been effective against SARS.

5)    The next month, the Department of Labor, responding to complaints from 
industry, dropped a rule that required employers to keep a record of 
employees' ergonomic injuries.

6)    The administration's 2004 budget proposed to cut 77 enforcement and 
related positions from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

7)    In 1995, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a study on 
fatal truck accidents. Thousands of people die each year in collisions with 
heavy trucks.  More than half the accidents resulted from truck-driver 
fatigue.

Congress the same year ordered the government to revise driving-hour rules 
to "reduce fatigue-related incidents and increase driver alertness.

Consumer and driver-safety groups lobbied to shorten the number of hours 
drivers could stay behind the wheel.  Trucking industry officials argued 
that shorter shifts would disrupt delivery schedules and raise prices on 
products delivered by truck.

Last year, the Department of Transportation issued a new rule increasing 
allowable driving time from 10 hours without a break to 11 hours. But after 
11 hours, drivers would have to take 10 hours off instead of eight.

Safety groups filed suit, saying the new rule, in all its detail, actually 
increased driving hours per week by 30 percent.

8)    Last August, the administration relaxed its clean-air rules by 
allowing thousands of corporations to upgrade their plants without having to 
install expensive pollution-control equipment.

In December, the United States Court of Appeals blocked the rule, at least 
temporarily, indicating that the court doubted the administration had 
authority to modify the Clean Air Act by regulation.

9)    The Department of Energy announced, May, 2002, that it would weaken a 
standard to make home air-conditioners more efficient. The department did 
order an efficiency increase, but less than had been mandated.

Attorneys general from seven states filed suit to restore the old standard. 
In January of this year, the United States Court of Appeals ruled that the 
Bush administration did not have the legal right to revise the efficiency 
rule.

10)    A federal judge blocked a plan by the Department of the Interior to 
allow an energy company to drill for oil adjacent to the Arches National 
Park in Utah, saying the government had not adequately considered the 
environmental impact of the plan.

11)    An Interior Department judicial agency blocked a plan to develop the 
Powder River Basin in Wyoming.

Steve

* New York Times Online, August 14, 2004
?Out of Spotlight, Bush Overhauls U.S. Regulations,? Joel Brinkley

_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! 
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/