OIRA
The Pump Handle
Tag archives for OIRA
Worker safety rule stuck in White House black hole, disease risk persists
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on April 12, 2012 More than 425 days—-that’s 14 months—-have passed since the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sent to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) a draft proposed regulation designed to protect workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica. The hazard is one of the oldest known causes of work-related…
Mitt Romney also out of touch about regulatory agencies’ power
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on March 12, 2012 Making a $10,000 bet, insulting people for wearing plastic rain ponchos, and asserting that $374,000 is not much to earn in speaking fees are just a few examples of Mitt Romney being out of touch. The Republican Presidential hopeful doesn’t seem to have a clue either about how federal agencies like EPA and OSHA conduct…
What’s taking so long?
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on February 17, 2012 “What’s taking so long?” might be uttered by a youngster waiting for a parent to assemble a swing set, or an art patron waiting for a conservator to restore a masterpiece. When the wait is finally over and the eager child or art lover see the final product, they realize the time was well spent.…
Slow progress by OSHA to improve worker health and safety regulations
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 30, 2012 The Labor Department provided an update on January 20, 2012 to its regulatory agenda, including revised target dates for improved workplace safety and health standards. Several of the rules OSHA now expects to publish in 2012 are regulations the agency previously said would be issued one or two years ago. Missed deadlines, however, are nothing…
White House message: new regulations and election year don’t mix
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 27, 2012 The Republicans’ mantra about the burden of regulations seems to have cast a spell on the Obama Administration’s attitude about promoting new regulatory initiatives. My observations about this were reinforced this week when I read the Administration’s statement accompanying its Fall 2011 regulatory plan. The message is clear: new regulations and an election year don’t…
Scientists urge White House to intervene in stalled worker safety rule
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 25, 2012 A group of 300 scientists, physicians and public health experts are urging President Obama to direct his Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to complete its review of a proposed Labor Department health standard on the carcinogen crystallline silica. OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has been reviewing the proposed rule for nearly…
Federal advisory committee urges Obama Administration to act on worker safety regulations
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 5, 2012 A federal advisory committee is urging HHS Secretary Sebelius and Labor Secretary Solis to proceed expeditiously with new worker safety regulations. In letters sent recently to these Cabinet-level officials, the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, (NACOSH) the committee used phrases such as “deeply distressed,” and “concerned and disappointed,” to characterize the Obama…
White House regulatory czar fails to publish rulemaking plan and agenda
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 3, 2012 When an organization fails to get the little things right, I have difficulty believing they are competent to get the big things right either. That’s the way I feel about the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). OIRA is part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), was created by the…
Industry influence and White House obstacles hamper rules to protect health, safety and environment
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on November 28, 2011 A new report by the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) confirms what some of us have suspected: there’s not much difference between the Obama Admininstration’s and GW Bush Administration’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) when it comes to meetings with industry lobbyists and giving lip-service to transparency. In “Behind Closed Doors at the…
Worker safety rulemaking 101, Part 2
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on August 24, 2011 The process of putting a new federal regulation in place to protect individuals from serious hazards at work often takes five or more years. Part 1 of “Worker safety rulemaking” described the steps leading up to OSHA proposing a new rule, to the point where the agency’s chief decides whether to send the draft proposed…