Law Commons^™

An Unnatural Disaster: The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina, David Driesen, Alyson Flournoy, Sheila Foster, Eileen Gauna, Robert Glicksman, Carmen Gonzalez, David Gottlieb, Donald Hornstein, Douglas Kysar, Thomas Mcgarity, Catherine O'Neill, Clifford Rechtschaffen, Christopher Schroeder, Sidney Shapiro, Rena Steinzor, Joseph Tomain, Robert Verchick, Karen Sokol

Rena I. Steinzor

No abstract provided.

Moving Forward On Public Health And Safety With Just The Stroke Of The Pen? Yes, Obama Can, Rena Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

No abstract provided.

Water Quality Trading In The Chesapeake Bay, Rena Steinzor, Nicholas Vidargas, Shana Jones, Yee Huang

Rena I. Steinzor

In May 2009, President Obama issued an Executive Order on Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration, declaring the Bay a national treasure and signaling that EPA will play a strong role in leading Bay cleanup. The order marked a dramatic departure, offering the promise of federal leadership on Bay cleanup. The following year, EPA issued a Chesapeake Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), a pollution budget for Bay states. Faced with a federal commitment, the states have begun work on complying with the TMDL. One Bay-wide approach under consideration is a market-based initiative, water quality trading, that would allow polluters to trade …

Rescuing Science From Politics: Regulation And The Distortion Of Scientific Research, Wendy Wagner, Rena Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

Rescuing Science from Politics debuts chapters by the nation's leading academics in law, science, and philosophy who explore ways that the law can be abused by special interests to intrude on the way scientists conduct research. The high stakes and adversarial features of regulation create the worst possible climate for the honest production and use of science especially by those who will ultimately bear the cost of the resulting regulatory standards. Yet an in-depth exploration of the ways in which dominant interest groups distort the available science to support their positions has received little attention in the academic or popular …

Opening The Industry Playbook: Myths And Truths In The Debate Over Bpa Regulation, Thomas Mcgarity, Rena Steinzor, Matthew Shudtz, Lena Pons

Rena I. Steinzor

For the last two decades, scientists have amassed evidence that bisphenol A (BPA) poses a threat to human health. Although scientists have targeted BPA as a public health concern, plastics industry lobbyists have attempted to thwart the efforts of federal, state, and local authorities to reduce exposure to BPA. This paper reviews the major arguments advanced by the plastics industry and debunks them as “myths” that public health officials must reject. The five topics covered include: the myth of scientific consensus on safety; the myth that only studies complying with “Good Laboratory Practices” guidelines are adequate for making regulatory decisions; …

Twelve Crucial Health, Safety, And Environmental Regulations: Will The Obama Administration Finish In Time?, Amy Sinden, Rena Steinzor, Matthew Shudtz, James Goodwin, Yee Huang, Lena Pons

Rena I. Steinzor

When President Obama came to the White House and put his appointees in place, they faced a long to-do list. For the preceding eight years, the dominant view within the Executive Branch had been that health, safety, and environmental regulation was a nuisance to business, cutting into industry profits in service of objectives that had never been part of President George W. Bush’s agenda. By the time Bush II left office on January 20, 2009, little had been done and a lot of important safeguards had been rolled back. Crucial rules mandated by Congress were delayed or derailed, and enforcement …

Testimony Of Rena Steinzor…Before The U.S. House Of Representatives, Energy And Commerce Committee, Subcommittee On Environment And Economics. 112th Congress, 1st Session (2011)., Rena Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

Environmental regulations have saved millions of lives, preventing chronic respiratory illness and heart attacks in cities across the country. These rules protect children from irreversible neurological damage, save billions of dollars in cleanup costs, and preserve water quality in lakes, rivers, and streams. If anything, our regulatory system is dangerously weak, and Congress should focus on reviving it rather than eroding public protections….

The Hidden Human And Environmental Costs Of Regulatory Delay, Catherine O'Neill, Amy Sinden, Rena Steinzor, James Goodwin, Ling-Yee Huang

Rena I. Steinzor

Each year dozens of workers are killed, thousands of children harmed, and millions of dollars wasted because of unjustifiable delays in federal regulatory action. Such delays in regulatory action have become commonplace, part of the wallpaper of Washington’s regulatory process for the protector agencies—the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), EPA, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and OSHA. Despite its significance, the problem of regulatory delay and the costs it generates has been virtually ignored in the debate over the general wisdom of the U.S. regulatory system over the last 30-plus years. Opponents …

Unfunded Environmental Mandates And The "New (New) Federalism": Devolution, Revolution, Or Reform, Rena Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

No abstract provided.

'You Just Don't Understand!" - The Right And Left In Conversation, Rena Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

No abstract provided.

In Defense Of The Superfund Liability System: Matching The Diagnosis And The Cure, Rena Steinzor, Linda Greer

Rena I. Steinzor

No abstract provided.

Oversight Hearing On The Federal Superfund Program's Activities To Protect Public Health, Rena Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

No abstract provided.

A Perfect Storm: Mercury And The Bush Administration, Rena Steinzor, Lisa Heinzerling

Rena I. Steinzor

In December 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a rule for mercury emissions from power plants and issued a final rule for mercury emissions from chlor-alkali facilities. Regarding power plants, EPA had previously found that mercury posed the most serious threat among the hazardous air pollutants emitted by power plants, and also that regulation of mercury from power plants was appropriate and necessary under section 112 of the Clean Air Act, which requires stringent technology-based regulation for hazardous air pollutants. Despite section 112's clear rejection of emissions trading as a compliance option, EPA has proposed to allow commercial trading …

Capture, Accountability, And Regulatory Metrics, Sidney Shapiro, Rena Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

No abstract provided.

Mother Earth And Uncle Sam: How Pollution And Hollow Government Hurt Our Kids, Rena Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

In this compelling study, Rena Steinzor highlights the ways in which the government, over the past twenty years, has failed to protect children from harm caused by toxic chemicals. She believes these failures—under-funding, excessive and misguided use of cost/benefit analysis, distortion of science, and devolution of regulatory authority—have produced a situation in which harm that could be reduced or eliminated instead persists.

Steinzor states that, as a society, we are neglecting our children's health to an extent that we would find unthinkable as individual parents, primarily due to the erosion of the government's role in protecting public health and the …