Journalists: if you haven't been paying attention to federal advisory committees, maybe it's time to start. These panels are a major back door through which industry exerts quiet influence on government regulators — but they are kept available to scrutiny by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and the Sunshine Act.
The Obama White House released a new rule reversing its ban on lobbyists in government. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rule allows registered lobbyists to participate as members on panels covered by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The rule change was forced by a court decision.
"Jurors at the nation's first federal criminal trial stemming from a deadly outbreak of food-borne illness are learning a disconcerting fact: America's food safety largely depends on the honor system."
"On Nov. 22, 2006, Paul Jennings received an email from a fellow executive at his chemical company. "As you are aware, Indonesia was planning to go lead free in 2000," the note read. "This obviously did not happen for a number of reasons and since 1st January 2000 until the present, we have supplied 28,390 [tons] of [tetraethyl lead] ... generating $277 million in revenue.""
"An email shows federal and provincial authorities allowed Canadian Natural Resources Limited, under investigation for a serious oilsands leak, to collect some evidence in the probe."
"Green groups say the Environmental Protection Agency's plan to weaken radiation standards at nuclear power plants would triple the likelihood of people in surrounding communities developing cancer."
"A federal judge in Tennessee has approved a $27.8 million settlement from the Tennessee Valley Authority to more than 800 people affected by a 2008 accident that unleashed a wave of toxic coal sludge, plaintiffs' lawyers said Tuesday."
"Inside Story" editor Beth Daley interviews Tampa (FL) Bay Times' Ivan Penn about his reporting on nuclear power, including the closing of the Crystal River Nuclear Plant, problems with cooling tubes at another facility and the risk to ratepayers for new nuclear power generation in Florida. Photo: Cooling towers at Crystal River nuclear plant in Florida. © Maurice Rivenbark, Tampa Bay Times.
"Pennsylvania has 86,000 miles of rivers, streams and creeks — a total length eclipsed only by the vast wilderness in Alaska."
"Twelve states filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration on Friday seeking to block an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to regulate coal-fired power plants in an effort to stem climate change."
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