[Vision2020] A Final Push From Bush at Deregulation

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (October 31, 2008) Spokesman review -

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A final push from Bush at deregulation 
R. Jeffrey Smith 
Washington Post
October 31, 2008

WASHINGTON – The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal 
regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at 
protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves 
office in January.

The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of 
the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would 
ease or lift existing constraints on private industry, including power 
plants, mines and farms.

Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial 
ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that 
contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a 
key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.

 
Once such rules take effect, they typically can be undone only through a 
laborious new regulatory proceeding, including lengthy periods of public 
comment, drafting and mandated reanalysis.

"They want these rules to continue to have an impact long after they leave 
office," said Matthew Madia, a regulatory expert at OMB Watch, a nonprofit 
group critical of what it calls the Bush administration's penchant for 
deregulating in areas where industry wants more freedom. He called the 
coming deluge "a last-minute assault on the public … happening on multiple 
fronts."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto responded that "this administration has 
taken extraordinary measures to avoid rushing regulations at the end of 
the term. And yes, we'd prefer our regulations stand for a very long time –
 they're well-reasoned and are being considered with the best interests of 
the nation in mind."

As many as 90 new regulations are in the works, and at least nine of them 
are considered "economically significant" because they impose costs or 
promote societal benefits that exceed $100 million annually. They include 
new rules governing employees who take family- and medical-related leaves, 
new standards for preventing or containing oil spills, and a simplified 
process for settling real estate transactions.

While it remains unclear how much the administration will be able to 
accomplish in the coming weeks, the last-minute rush appears to involve 
fewer regulations than Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, approved at the 
end of his tenure. 

Bush's aides are acutely aware of the political risks of completing their 
regulatory work too late. On the afternoon of Bush's inauguration, Jan. 
20, 2001, his chief of staff issued a governmentwide memo that blocked the 
completion or implementation of regulations drafted in the waning days of 
the Clinton administration that had not yet taken legal effect.

"Through the end of the Clinton administration, we were working like crazy 
to get as many regulations out as possible," said Donald Arbuckle, who 
retired in 2006 after 25 years as a career official at the OMB. "Then on 
Sunday, the day after the inauguration, OMB Director Mitch Daniels called 
me in and said, 'Let's pull back as many of these as we can.' "

Clinton's appointees wound up paying a heavy price for procrastination. 
Bush's team was able to withdraw 254 regulations that covered matters from 
drug and airline safety to immigration and indoor air pollutants. After 
further review, many of the proposals were modified to reflect Republican 
policy ideals or scrapped altogether.

Seeking to avoid falling victim to the same partisan tactics, White House 
chief of staff Joshua Bolten last May imposed a Nov. 1 governmentwide 
deadline to finish major new Bush administration regulations, "except in 
extraordinary circumstances."

That gives officials just a few more weeks to meet an effective Nov. 20 
deadline for the publication of economically significant rules, which take 
legal effect only after a 60-day congressional comment period. Less 
important rules take effect after a 30-day period, creating a second 
deadline of Dec. 20.

As the deadlines near, the administration has begun to issue regulations 
of great interest to industry, including, in recent days, a rule that 
allows the nation's natural gas pipelines to operate at higher pressures 
and new Homeland Security rules that shift passenger security screening 
responsibilities from airlines to the federal government. The OMB also 
approved a new limit on airborne emissions of lead this month, acting 
under a court-imposed deadline.

Many of the rules that could be issued over the next few weeks would ease 
environmental regulations, according to sources familiar with the 
administration's internal deliberations.

A rule put forward by the National Marine Fisheries Service and now under 
final review by the OMB would lift a requirement that environmental impact 
statements be prepared for certain fisheries-management decisions and 
would give review authority to regional councils dominated by commercial 
and recreational fishing interests.

An Alaska commercial fishing industry source, granted anonymity so he 
could speak candidly about private conversations, said that senior 
administration officials promised to "get the rule done by the end of this 
month" and that the outcome would be a big improvement over existing 
regulations.

Two other rules nearing completion would ease limits on pollution from 
power plants, a major energy industry goal for the past eight years that 
is strenuously opposed by Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups.

One rule, being pursued over some opposition within the Environmental 
Protection Agency, would allow current emissions at a power plant to match 
the highest levels produced by that plant, overturning an existing rule 
that more strictly limits such emission increases. According to the EPA's 
estimate, it would allow millions of tons of additional carbon dioxide 
into the atmosphere annually, worsening global warming.

A related regulation would ease limits on emissions from coal-fired power 
plants located near national parks.

A third new rule would allow increased emissions from oil refineries, 
chemical factories and other industrial plants with complex manufacturing 
operations.

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Seeya at the polls, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college 
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)


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