Agencies Postpone Issuing New Rules Until After Election

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September 27, 2004

 

Agencies Postpone Issuing New Rules Until After Election

By STEPHEN LABATON

 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 - After a case of mad cow disease surfaced in

Washington State late last year, federal regulators vowed to move

swiftly to adopt rules to reduce the risks of further problems and

restore confidence in the nation's meat industry.

 

Some rules were adopted this year. But a few weeks ago, the Food and

Drug Administration, after heavy lobbying from the beef and feed

industries, took steps to delay - and to the concern of food safety

groups, possibly kill - completion of the most controversial and

perhaps most expensive proposal for cattle companies.

 

That proposal would sharply restrict what could be included in animal

feed. Shortly after the administration slowed its consideration of the

rule, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association broke its nonpartisan

tradition and endorsed President Bush for re-election.

 

The F.D.A. decision was part of a broader pattern.

 

In recent weeks, federal agencies across the vast Washington

bureaucracy have delayed completion of a range of proposed regulations

from food safety and the environment to corporate governance and

telecommunications policy until after Election Day, when regulatory

action may be more politically palatable.

 

The delays come after heavy lobbying by industry organizations,

including the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Business

Roundtable, the cattle and feed industries, the four regional Bell

operating telephone companies, big health care providers and timber

and mining interests.

 

Some groups have been making their case for regulations that would

make it easier for miners and timber companies to develop forests,

while others have been advocating wholesale telephone rate rules that

could significantly increase prices to consumers. Many corporate

executives, meanwhile, have been arguing against a proposal that would

give shareholders the ability to remove directors of troubled companies.

 

Officials have decided to wait until after Election Day to respond to

an appeals court decision that struck down rules that would make it

easier for the largest media conglomerates to grow larger. And they

are not expected to issue rules that will determine prescription rates

and coverage under the new Medicare law until after the presidential

election.

 

Both industry lobbyists and their critics say that the re-election of

President Bush would probably lead to the adoption of some regulations

favorable to industry and the rejection or watering down of others

that industry considers objectionable. Consumer groups, environmental

organizations and food safety experts, meanwhile, say that delays

could lead to significantly weaker rules that could increase prices on

some products, reduce safety and relax environmental protections.

 

While the delay of completing rules, known to lobbyists and policy

makers as " slow rolling,'' is common in a campaign season, some

environmental groups and consumer advocates say this year is different.

 

" Generally, regulatory submissions often get pushed off in election

years,'' said Gene Kimmelman, a senior director of public policy at

Consumers Union.

 

" What is unusual this time,'' he added, " is the clear pattern of

holding back regulatory decisions that will benefit the largest

industry players and will drive up prices and market place risks for

consumers, ranging from telephones to drugs to the risks of

contaminants of food. The pattern of slow rolling will ultimately

benefit the largest players and hit consumers in the pocketbook.''

 

Administration officials have denied such consequences, although they

acknowledge that they are generally inclined in each instance to take

the least restrictive approach and that they have been sympathetic to

the concerns of business interests. They also say that reducing

regulations reduces costs to industry and, thus, leads to lower prices

for consumers. The administration's critics say that although John

Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president, has taken a different

position on some of the regulations, electing him might not affect the

outcome of some proposals because the Bush administration would have

almost three months after Election Day to complete the rules.

 

" There could be a fire sale such as we've never seen post-election,''

said Marty Hayden, legislative director for Earthjustice, one of

several environmental groups that is opposing a proposal to make it

easier to build roads in millions of acres of forests. Last week, the

administration announced that it was extending the comment period for

the proposal so that the final regulation could not be adopted before

Election Day.

 

Slow rolling takes place before a presidential election because it is

an axiom of political life that agencies take no action that could

give an issue to the opponents of the incumbent administration.

 

After an election, by contrast, agency work often accelerates,

particularly in anticipation of a change in administration. Indeed,

nearly four years ago, the Bush administration - in its first two

hours in office - imposed a brief regulatory moratorium to take stock

of the proposals that had been rushed through agencies in the final

days of the Clinton administration.

 

While that rhythm to rule making is inevitable, some experts say that

this year there are an unusually large number of controversial

proposals, and that they reflect both the tightness in the polls and

the strong industry ties to the White House. Those groups and others

have prevailed upon policy makers to delay some decisions in the hopes

of killing some proposals and relaxing some other rules after the

election.

 

Blair Levin, a telecommunications analyst at Legg Mason who was a

senior official at the Federal Communications Commission in the

Clinton administration, said that in telecommunications policy, he

" cannot recall a time when there were these many important things

waiting to be acted on.''

 

He said he expected that final rules on wholesale telephone rates,

which will be completed after the election, would result in price

increases in the range of 15 percent for existing customers, as well

as price increases for new customers.

 

Officials at several agencies said they had moved to reduce the

profile of controversial rule makings as the presidential campaign

moves into the home stretch.

 

" The president sets the focus right now,'' said Michael D. Gallagher,

an assistant commerce secretary who heads the National

Telecommunications and Information Administration. " That's the way it

should be, and it's not for us to get into old battles. The president

should drive the message and we should be reinforcing that. Hopefully

we'll be able to do that for the next 60 days. After that, there's a

very full plate of issues to be addressed.''

 

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company