Uncle Sam Wants To Act As Censors For Industry.

[Guest guest]

WHITE HOUSE WRESTLES REGULATORY CONTROL FROM AGENCIES

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/emaf.nsf/Popup?ReadForm & db=stltoday%5Cnews%5Cst\

ories.nsf & docid=189564E117AF585586256E17007E600A

 

" Under a new proposal, the White House would decide what and when

the public would be told about an outbreak of mad cow disease, an

anthrax release, a nuclear plant accident or any other crisis, " the

St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

 

" The White House Office of

Management and Budget is trying to gain final control over release

of emergency declarations from the federal agencies responsible for

public health, safety and the environment. The OMB also wants to

manage scientific and technical evaluations ... of all major

government rules, plans, proposed regulations and pronouncements. "

 

But former top agency officials and public interest groups oppose

OMB's proposal, saying it " could damage the federal system for

protecting public health and the environment. " John Graham heads

the OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

 

In December

2001, the Washington Post reported that Graham had asked top trade

group lobbyists to compile a list of the regulations that they

found overly burdensome.

 

" This was a secret campaign to circumvent

the process, " an unnamed lobbyists told the Post. " With Graham in

that job, we figured we could get whatever we want. " Before joining

the White House, Graham ran the industry-funded Harvard Center for

Risk Analysis.

 

SOURCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 11, 2004

 

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