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Full-Text Articles in Law
Evaluating Rules And How We Measure Their Effects, Rena I. Steinzor, Michael Patoka
Evaluating Rules And How We Measure Their Effects, Rena I. Steinzor, Michael Patoka
Rena I. Steinzor
The Center for Progressive Reform undertook an empirical study of the Office of Information of Regulatory Affairs, the White House office that reviews every significant regulation issue by Executive Branch agencies. The study assembled an unprecedented portrait of its behavior during the decade from October 16, 2001, when notices of meetings with outside parties were first available on the Internet, until June 1, 2011. OIRA conducted 6,194 separate reviews of regulatory submissions, holding 1,080 meetings that involved 5,759 appearances by outside participants. Both the final report and the database we assembled are available on the CPR website, at progressivereform.org. OIRA …
Fairness In The Bay: Environmental Justice And Nutrient Trading, Rena I. Steinzor, Robert R.M. Verchick, Nicholas W. Vidargas, Yee Huang
Fairness In The Bay: Environmental Justice And Nutrient Trading, Rena I. Steinzor, Robert R.M. Verchick, Nicholas W. Vidargas, Yee Huang
Rena I. Steinzor
Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and other states in the Chesapeake Bay region, with support from the Environmental Protection Agency, are working toward developing water quality trading programs intended to help meet federal pollution limits for the Bay. This white paper from the Center for Progressive Reform warns that even if a trading system succeeds in reducing overall pollution in the Bay, it might still have a dire effect on low-income and minority communities in the Bay region. If trading programs are not carefully designed and monitored, trading can cause localized concentrations of nutrients and accompanying contaminants in local waters, posing a …
Agricultural Secrecy: Going Dark Down On The Farm: How Legalized Secrecy Gives Agribusiness A Federally Funded Free Ride, Rena I. Steinzor, Yee Huang
Agricultural Secrecy: Going Dark Down On The Farm: How Legalized Secrecy Gives Agribusiness A Federally Funded Free Ride, Rena I. Steinzor, Yee Huang
Rena I. Steinzor
This briefing paper examines the agricultural secrecy granted by section 1619 of the 2008 Farm Bill, its implications for transparency and oversight, and its impact on other federal agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In an era of fiscal responsibility, tight budgets, and increasing pressure on the environment, the public has a right to know whether the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making the best decisions about how to allocate public funds. Each year, agricultural producers in the United States receive billions of dollars in federal payments: crop subsidies, crop insurance, conservation payments, disaster payments, loans, …
Back To Basics: An Agenda For The Maryland General Assembly To Protect The Environment, Rena I. Steinzor, Lee Huang
Back To Basics: An Agenda For The Maryland General Assembly To Protect The Environment, Rena I. Steinzor, Lee Huang
Rena I. Steinzor
Maryland has a long-held reputation as a regional and national leader in environmental protection. But in some areas, especially enforcement, that reputation warrants scrutiny. For example, Maryland charges less than Pennsylvania and Virginia for some pollutant discharge permits, and the state does not assess permit fees for municipalities despite the resources required to administer those permits. The penalties for violating the Clean Water Act have remained chronically below the level allowed under federal law. Maryland law does not require MDE to penalize polluters for the full amount of the economic gain they achieved by flouting the law, unlike laws in …
Water Quality Trading In The Chesapeake Bay, Rena Steinzor, Nicholas Vidargas, Shana Jones, Yee Huang
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 …
Manure In The Bay: A Report On Industrial Animal Agriculture In Maryland And Pennsylvania, Rena I. Steinzor, Yee Huang
Manure In The Bay: A Report On Industrial Animal Agriculture In Maryland And Pennsylvania, Rena I. Steinzor, Yee Huang
Rena I. Steinzor
This report provides a substantive and detailed look at the concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) and other animal feeding operations (AFO) programs in Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as a general overview of the federal CAFO program. The information in this report was gathered through publicly available resources as well as a series of interviews with agency officials and other individuals who work with the animal agricultural sector. This report identifies concrete and practical recommendations for improving how the waste generated by animal industrial agriculture is managed and controlled by EPA, the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE), and the Pennsylvania …
Too Big To Obey: Why Bp Should Be Debarred, Rena I. Steinzor
Too Big To Obey: Why Bp Should Be Debarred, Rena I. Steinzor
Rena I. Steinzor
No abstract provided.
The Legislation Of Unintended Consequences, Rena I. Steinzor
The Legislation Of Unintended Consequences, Rena I. Steinzor
Rena I. Steinzor
No abstract provided.
The Case For Abolishing Centralized White House Regulatory Review, Rena I. Steinzor
The Case For Abolishing Centralized White House Regulatory Review, Rena I. Steinzor
Rena I. Steinzor
A series of catastrophic regulatory failures have focused attention on theweakened condition of regulatory agencies assigned to protect public health, worker and consumer safety, and the environment. The destructive convergence of funding shortfalls, political attacks, and outmoded legal authority have set the stage for ineffective enforcement, unsupervised industry self-regulation, and a slew of devastating and preventable catastrophes. From the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico to the worst mining disaster in forty years at the Big Branch mine in West Virginia, the signs of regulatory dysfunction abound. Many stakeholders expected that President Barack Obama would recognize and ameliorate …